§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he will inquire whether James Henry, J.P., Draperstown, Derry, who got possession by decree, for a small debt in 1889, of the farm from which John M'Kenna and a helpless family of 11 children were evicted, redeemed the holding, as required by law, by the payment of arrears then due and demanded under a six months' notice served on him, when he got possession, by the Drapers' Company in March 1889, and which notice expired in September 1889; whether he is aware that the Drapers' Company decreed James Henry for rent due, evicted him in December 1889, and held possession of the farm themselves up to May 1890; whether he will give the names of the persons who had informed and satisfied the Land Commissioners that James Henry was a bonâ fide tenant when they gave him the public funds to purchase this land; was M'Kenna examined, or his claim inquired into, and was he given the option of purchasing by the Land Commissioners, and, if not, why; and whether, under all the circumstances, he will cause the Land Commission to re-open 1012 this case with the view of allowing the widow and orphans of M'Kenna to get back their farm?
§ *MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Land Commissioners have no information as to the dealings between the Drapers' Company and James Henry between the year 1889, when James Henry obtained possession under a decree as a mortgagee, and the 20th January 1891, the date of the Agreement for Sale by the Company to Mr. Henry. The affidavit to this Agreement stated that Mr. Henry had been in occupation since 1889. The Inspector, in his Report, dated 9th May 1891, stated that the tenant was in occupation and had acquired the holding as above stated in 1889. The basis of the proceedings under the Land Purchase Act is an agreement between landlord and tenant, and the Commissioners have no jurisdiction to give any other person the option to purchase a holding. No claim was made by John M'Kenna when the holding was inspected, and no proceedings were taken by him to have the Agreement for Sale set aside and, therefore, there were no proceedings in which he could have been examined. As already stated, the title of the purchaser has been registered under the local Registration of Title Act, and the Commissioners can take no steps to re-open the sale.