§ MR. J. P. FARRELL (Cavan, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether it is customary for clerks in land agents' offices to witness agreements to purchase their holdings made by tenants in the land agent's office; if he is aware that this practice has been followed in some recent cases in the county Cavan; and will he request the Land Commission to issue a notice forbidding such practice?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURI have no information that the fact is as stated in the first part of the Question, nor am I aware that it is material who witnesses such agreements in the sense indicated. The rules of the Land Commission require that every agreement shall be in the prescribed form and shall be verified by the affidavit of the tenant. Such affidavit can only be made before a person duly qualified to take affidavits, and the person administering the affidavits must not be the vendor, his agent or solicitor, or the tenant's solicitor. The Land Commissioners are not aware that in any instance the requirements of their rules in regard to the taking of affidavits have not been complied with.