§ MR. KNOXI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in how many cases of fair rent appeals for the second statutory term Mr. Commissioner O'Brien has been a member of the Court adjudicating on the appeals, and in how many cases the Court Was exclusively composed of Commissioners appointed by Conservative Governments?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOUROn Friday last I stated that the composition of the Court, when hearing appeals is arranged by the Commissioners amongst themselves, having regard to their other official engagements, and I also mentioned the number of occasions on which each Commissioner sat since October last.
§ MR. KNOXI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether his attention has been called to the fact, that there are over 24,000 applications to have a fair rent fixed by the Land Commission and the Civil Bill Courts now pending, and that 926 only 261 fair rents were fixed during February, being an average, of less than three rents for each judicial personage employed; (2) whether he is able to explain the cause of this delay; (3) whether, if it is due to the difficulty which the Sub-Commissioners feel in filling up the pink paper, he will ask the Land Commission to consider the advisability of simplifying that document; and (4) whether he can state what was the total number of fair rents fixed for the second statutory term by Sub-Commissioners up to the end of March, and in how many of these cases appeals have been lodged?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURIt is not correct to say that only 261 fair rents were fixed during February. The Sub-Commissioners alone disposed of 685 applications in that month to fix fair rents for a first and second statutory term, in addition to a number of cases disposed of by the Civil Bill Courts. I am unable to answer the third paragraph, but think it probable that, as the Sub-Commission get more accustomed to the work, they will be able to dispose of cases more rapidly. In March, 1,284 applications in all were disposed of, and 2,515 fair rents for second terms have been fixed up to the end of March; 1,191 notices of appeal have been received, including notices in cross cases.
§ MR. RICHARD M. DANE (Fermanagh, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether one of the two Assistant Lay Land Commissioners attached to the Strabane Sub-Commission has been withdrawn for the purpose of valuing farms for the Court of Appeal of the Land Commission, with the result that cases are now being heard, farms inspected, and rents fixed by one Assistant Lay Commissioner only; and, if so, whether such practice has the sanction of the Irish Government?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURIt is the fact that one of the Lay Assistant Commissioners attached to the Strabane Sub-Commission has been withdrawn for the purpose stated, and that cases are now being heard and rents fixed by the Chairman and one Lay Assistant Commissioner, not by the latter alone, as alleged in the Question. The powers of delegation referred to are conferred by statute upon the Land Commission, and do not require the sanction of Government.
§ MR. D. MACALEESE (Monaghan, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by whose authority or permission Mr. Hume Babington, Permanent Assistant Land Commissioner, absented himself from his duty on Wednesday, the 31st of March last, to attend a meeting of the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Council, held in Londonderry; was Mr. Babington, as a public official, within his right in assisting to pass a resolution at the said meeting, declaring that Parliament would be guilty of deliberate confiscation if it passed any legislation interfering with the endowments of the Erasmus Smith Schools; and whether, considering the present congested state of business in the Courts, Land Commissioners will be for bidden to attend public meetings, whether of a political or a religous character?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURI am not yet in possession of the facts relative to the alleged attendance of this gentleman at the meeting referred to, and cannot, therefore, reply to the Question to-day.
§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what is the reason of the delay of the Land Commission in issuing a list for the hearing of cases fixing fair rents in the Union of Tipperary, seeing that there are over 100 cases already lodged?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThere are 44, not 100, cases pending in this Union, and a list for the hearing of these cases will be issued in the course of the next ten days.
§ MR.JOHN ROCHE (Galway, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he will make inquiry into the case of a tenant farmer named Thomas Tracey, of Newcastle, near Athenry, county Galway, whose application (Record No. 15,580) to fix fair rent on the estate of Captain Hall was heard on 4th January last; whether any, and, if so, what, objection was taken at the hearing to the area of the farm as mentioned in the originating notice; whether he is aware that, notwithstanding, the land agent, on inspection of the holding by the Sub-Commissioners, then raised an objection as to the area for which the tenant had been paying rent, and thereupon the Sub-Commissioners adjourned the case 928 for evidence as to area; and whether it is the practice to put the tenant to the inconvenience and expense of again attending in Court, where the landlord objecting to the area, failed at the hearing to give evidence as to his alleged area?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURNo objection was made at the hearing, but it appears that, on the inspection of the farm by the Assistant Commissioners, the representative of the landlord and the tenants disagreed as to the boundaries of the holding, and the case, following the usual procedure, was adjourned in order to enable the parties to come to a mutual agreement. If the parties agree without further delay, no further hearing will be necessary.