MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick's)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that the Registrar of Deaths in Lisburn, County Antrim, has refused to issue certificates in the case of death of 680 members of the National Foresters branch there until he wrote to the Registrar of Friendly Societies to know if the branch was registered, refusing to take the printed copy of Rules as evidence, thereby causing much inconvenience to the relatives of the deceased, who were kept six days without the money required for burial purposes, it being an offence under the Friendly Societies Act for any Society to pay money except on production of the certificate; and if the Government will undertake to prevent such action on the part of any Registrar of Deaths?
MR. J. MORLEYThe Registrar General reports that in the last printed list of Registered Friendly Societies there appears an entry of a branch whose registered address is "Smithfield, Lisburn." If the party belonged to this branch and produced a printed copy of the Rules and card of membership, the local Registrar should have issued the certificate on the proper form without further inquiry. If, however, the Registrar had any reasonable doubt as to the registration of any particular Society he is directed by instructions to apply to the Assistant Registrar of Friendly Societies. Further inquiry is now being made into the matter.