§ MR. MACARTNEY (Antrim, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the action of the Chairman of the Lurgan Bench of Magistrates in refusing to give costs for attendance as witness for the prosecution, to Mr. Nelson, pawnbroker, of Lisburn, in recent cases; whether he is aware that in these cases Mr. Nelson had given information to the police, upon which the persons charged were arrested and convicted, and that he has been publicly complimented in Lisburn Court for the assistance rendered to the police on other occasions; whether it is customary to grant costs for the expenses applied for on behalf of Mr. Nelson; and whether the Constabulary authorities have any ground for imputing to Mr. Nelson the conduct ascribed to him by the Chairman of the Lurgan Bench in refusing to give the costs applied for?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.The facts, I am informed, are as stated in the first three paragraphs of the question. The Constabulary do not impute to Mr. Nelson any attempted evasion of the law. On the contrary, he has always shown a marked inclination to render every assistance in his power in the detection of offenders.