§ MR. J. P. FARRELL (Cavan, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in view of the fact that at present there is but one arbitrator to carry out arbitration inquiries under the Lands Clauses, Labourers and other Irish Acts, and that it is physically impossible for him to do all the work, he will consider the advisability of appointing additional arbitrators to facilitate proceedings, especially under the new Labourers' Act?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURIt is not a fact that there is but one arbitrator appointed to hold inquiries referred to in the Question. There are two. Delays have occasionally occurred in arbitration proceedings, but these delays have rarely been attributable to the inability of these gentlemen to find sufficient time, and have generally been caused by the prescribed procedure, which is not expeditious, or by defective information placed before the arbitrator by local authorities. The Labourers Bill now before Parliament proposes, by way of simplifying procedure under the Labourers Acts, to apply the procedure under the Housing of Working Classes Act instead of that under the Lands Clauses Act. One of the effects of this will be that the arbitrator will be appointed by the Local Government Board.