§ MR. DANEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has considered the case of Joseph Walker, a prisoner now undergoing sentence for participation in the Belfast Riots of 1886; and, if so, with what result?
§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.)What has become of the second Walker? There were two Walkers, father and son, convicted.
MR. J. MORLEYNo; I think my hon. and learned Friend is mistaken. The son was acquitted. Walker the elder was convicted before Lord Justice FitzGibbon, at the Belfast Spring Assizes of 1887, of the manslaughter of Private Hughes, of the West Surrey Regiment, and sentenced to 20 years' penal servitude. A Memorial praying for Walker's release was submitted to Lord Zetland, the late Lord Lieutenant, in March, 1891. On this Memorial Lord Zetland decided that the law should take its course, and he repented this decision on subsequent 11 Memorials from the prisoner, in December 1891, and July, 1892. Memorials were also addressed to the present Lord Lieutenant in November and February last, and he has seen no sufficient, reason for disagreeing with the view already taken in the case by his predecessor.
MR. J. MORLEYI cannot say; but no doubt the Lord Lieutenant took all the proper steps in the case, as I am sure Lord Zetland did also.
§ MR. DANEWill the right hon. Gentleman inquire, as there is a strong feeling in the North of Ireland on the subject, owing to the wholesale discharge of other prisoners by Her Majesty's Government?
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order!