§ MR. VESEY KNOX (Londonderry)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will call the attention of the Land Commission to the, fact that in dealing with the sale of tenancies in their new rules they have dealt with all tenancies, including Ulster Custom tenancies, and have thereby exceeded their jurisdiction?
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. ATRINSON,) Londonderry, N.With the permission of my right hon. Friend, I will reply to this Question. The Rules issued by the Land Commission, dated the 2nd January 1897, are merely a recast of the Rules made under the Land Act of 1881, issued in December 1883. Both the latter and the former referred, as provided by the Statutes, to sales made under the Act of 1881. Sales under the Ulster Custom are, by the express provisions of Section 1, Subsection (12) of the Act of 1881, not made under the Act at all, nor have the Rules any reference to such sales, and Section 49 of the Act of last Session preserves all the rights of the tenant under the Ulster Custom. The Land Commission have not, therefore, in any way exceeded their powers.