§ MR. SAMUEL YOUNG (Cavan, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with reference to the recent sitting of the Chief Land Commission at Belfast, how many cases of appeals from fair rents fixed by the Sub-Commissioners were disposed of by them, and in how many cases were the judicial rents confirmed and reduced and increased respectively; and whether the Chief Commissioners inspected any or all of the holdings, or merely depended upon the reports of the court valuers to guide them in coming to a conclusion.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURThere were ninety-seven cases listed for hearing before the Chief Land Commission at their recent sitting at Belfast. Of these the rents fixed by the Sub-Commissioners were confirmed in fourteen cases; reduced in four; increased in fifty-three; and dismissed in three. Ten cases were withdrawn; seven settled; judgment was reserved in two cases, and four were adjourned. The Chief Commissioners did not view the holdings. They decided the cases in the ordinary way after hearing the evidence adduced on both sides, and after considering the schedule of the particulars recorded by the Sub-Commission and the reports made by the Court valuers.