§ MR. T. M. HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his. statement has been called to the report of the judgment of Mr. Justice Monroe, re "King's Estate," in the Dublin papers of 4th July, dismissing Mr. Matthew Weld O'Connor from the receivership, and commenting strongly on his conduct in allowing four tenants to be sued for £27 2s., rent they had already paid, and surcharging him therewith, and with other sums, amounting to £181 13s., "verified" by Mr. O'Connor to have been spent on police huts and emergency men; whether Mr. O'Connor is a Magistrate for the three counties of Longford, Cavan, and Meath, and will be retained in the Commission of the Peace; whether he has observed that Judge Monroe also condemmed the conduct of an under agent, named Francis Cooke, of whom his Lordship remarked that his form of receipt was "a curiosity," but that he
Did not feel at liberty in holding on mere suspicion that Cooke had been guilty of perjury and fraud;355 whether Cooke is barony cess collector, process server, and summons server in Longford or Leitrim; will the Government take any steps to have him removed from these positions; will a Secret Inquiry, under Section 1 of the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act, be held to obtain evidence to prosecute Cooke in case that existing already is not considered sufficient; if not, is the judicial suspicion of "perjury and fraud" considered insufficient to ground such inquiry; and is Cooke the same person who was tried for shooting a girl in Mohill, and got off on the plea of self-defence?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI beg to refer the hon. and learned Member to the replies already given on the matters of fact referred to in this question. As regards the alleged statement made in court with respect to Cooke's action, steps are being taken to ascertain what actually occurred in Court, and the Attorney General for Ireland will then consider the matter.