§ MR. J. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I desire to call attention to a serious error in the Journal of this House, an error which appears to involve a misstatement of fact. This record has reference to the Resolution of the House declaring that the proceedings of the Mullingar Board of Guardians, as reported in an Irish newspaper, constitute a breach of the privileges of the House. The record of the proceedings of the board of guardians in the extract given from the newspaper runs as follows—
Proposed by Mr. James Brennan, seconded by Mr. Denis Shanahan, 'that on this day fortnight the Board take action in regard to the vile and anticleric speech made by Mr. John P. Hayden last week in Parliament, with a 315 view to having his paper deprived of the advertisements here in future, and himself and his reporter excluded from our meetings.'But there is nothing on the Record to show that any proceedings were taken by the board of guardians on that proposal, and, therefore, it appears to me that the Record does not faithfully reproduce and show the actual Motion made and on which the House was called to adjudicate. I wish, further, to say that, according to the information at my disposal, there was actually no resolution passed by the board of guardians, and no proceedings taken on the part of the board to justify this resolution. In pursuance of my first point, that the Record is not a correct record of what took place, I have here a Report of the Motion on which the House declared that this public body had been guilty of a gross breach of the privileges of the House. This Report shows that the honourable Member for Kilkenny City moved that the resolution passed by the Mullingar Board of Guardians on July 22nd was a breach of the privileges of the House, and according to the published record of the proceedings it was on that Motion that the House acted. But the Report in the Journal of the House does not record specifically that any resolution whatever was passed by the Mullingar Board of Guardians, and, on the Report as it stands and reads, great injustice has been done to this public body. It is there declared to have been guilty of a gross breach of the privileges of this House, whereas in the Journal of the House there is no statement that they have been guilty of any action whatever in this matter. I make no allusion to the action of the gentleman who gave notice of the Resolution; that is one thing, and the action of a public body is another. But that this House should place upon its Journal, and allow to remain there, a statement that a public body has been guilty of a gross breach of the privileges of the House, when the entry in the Journal records no action by the public body, appears to me to be not only injurious to that body, but to place the House in a most extraordinary and unenviable position. I pass for a moment to the more general question as to whether this board of guardians——
§ * MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The honourable Member can only argue that 316 the proceedings are not correctly entered in the Records of the House. He cannot go into the question he now proposes to go into—the question of the propriety of the action of the Mullingar Board of Guardians.
§ MR. DILLONI accept that point of order. But I was going to ask whether there are any means by which, in case I can produce evidence that no resolution whatever was passed by this board of guardians, I can move to expunge this Record from the Journal of the House.
§ * MR. SPEAKERIf the honourable Member can produce such evidence that would be no ground for expunging the entry from the Records of the House. The Record of the House does not state that there was any resolution. It states that a newspaper was handed in at the Table of the House and the report read as follows—
Proposed by Mr. James Brennan, seconded by Mr. Denis Shanahan, 'that on this day fortnight the Board take action in regard to the vile and anticleric speech made by Mr. John P. Hayden last week in Parliament, with a view to having his paper deprived of the advertisements here in future, and himself and his reporter excluded from our meetings.'The Record goes on to say—Resolved, that the said proceedings of the Mullingar Board of Guardians, as reported in the Irish Daily Independent newspaper of 22nd July, 1898, constitute a breach of the privileges of this House.That is what the House has decided, and it seems to me to be accurately stated in the Records.
§ MR. DILLONMy information being that all that was done was to give a notice of Motion, am I not correct in saying that this entry is incorrect when it describes the proceedings of the Mullingar Board of Guardians to be a gross violation of the privileges of the House?
§ * MR. SPEAKERI have read exactly what took place, and I think it is a correct record.
MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny City)May I ask the indulgence of the House to say that I am not particularly 317 concerned now as to whether or not the House wishes to rescind its Resolution. That is a matter for the House to decide; but I may be permitted to say that I did not wish to mislead the House. I based my Motion on what I found in the Irish Daily Independent, and it states——
§ * MR. SPEAKERI do not understand that any attack has been made upon the honourable Member.
MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI may answer what the honourable Member for South Mayo has said by stating that in the newspaper report it was mentioned that an Amendment had been proposed; that implies that a Motion was made.
§ * MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! I have already decided that question.
MR. PATRICK O'BRIENYou will allow me to say that I have received a telegram from the honourable Member for South Roscommon stating that at a meeting of the board of guardians to-day the motion had been withdrawn. The action of the House has, therefore, had a wholesome and salutary effect. The board of guardians themselves recognise that they acted wrongly, and they have put the matter right by their action to-day.