MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the police in Belfast have been in the habit of taking shorthand notes, or any notes, of the speeches inciting to disorder that have been delivered for a long time past every Sunday at the Custom House by a man named Trew; and, if so, whether he has any objection to place the reports of those speeches on the Table of the House.
§ MR. ATKINSONAt the request of my right hon. friend, I will reply to this question. Notes in shorthand, or longhand, have been taken for some time past of the speeches made by Mr. Trew; I cannot, however, admit the accuracy of the description applied to these speeches in the question, though, no doubt, they were in many instances reprehensible in character. The reports of the speeches are confidential documents, and it would be contrary to practice to lay them on the Table of the House
§ [No answer was given.]