§ MR. DILLONOn behalf of the honourable Member for East Cavan I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether, considering the present disturbed state of public feeling, and the likelihood of serious riots in Belfast, he will proclaim Mr. Trew's meetings and gatherings of a like nature in the neighbourhood of it. Clement's Church?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe police, as I have already stated, have full power to suppress meetings calculated to lead directly to a breach of the peace. No formal proclamation is necessary to this end, and no proclamation that might be issued would per se make an assemblage illegal if it would otherwise have been legal. The police at Belfast have been instructed to prevent disorder and obstruction of the thoroughfare, and this duty they will continue to discharge as well as to afford every necessary protection to person and property.