§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if the Royal Irish Constabulary are warned by Circular to keep their gardens cropped each year; whether he is aware that the new County Inspector for Louth compelled his men at Hack ball's Cross to cut and clear away a fine crop of oats (unripe) out of their garden to convert it into a drill ground; whether, since the barrack was built, many years ago, the men have always been drilled in the barrack yard; and whether, in view of the fact that the destruction and deprivation of their garden has caused great dissatisfaction amongst the men, will he explain what cause exists at present for a step which was not thought necessary by any County Inspector since the barrack was established?
THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. MORLEY, Newcastle-upon-Tyne)There is a standing regulation requiring that gardens attached to Constabulary barracks be properly utilised and not allowed to go to waste. It appears that a small portion of the garden to which the question of my hon. and learned Friend refers has this season 1561 successfully resisted all the efforts of the police to cultivate either vegetables or oats thereon, and the County Inspector, in the interests of the men themselves, ordered that they should be drilled on this barren tract in fine weather. The remainder of the garden is, I believe, under cultivation, and the men are quite satisfied and happy.