§ MR. CHARLES CRAIG (Antrim, S)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if his attention has been drawn to a poster posted in a number of places on or near the estate of J. C. Blake, in the county of Galway, for the sale of which to the Congested Districts Board negotiations are now in progress, stating that the winning of Irish independence and the land for the people was the object of the tenants on the estate, and threatening the lives of persons if the estate in question was allowed to pass into the hands of a grazier; and, if so, what steps he intends to take with reference to the matter.
§ MR. WYNDHAMYes, Sir. I have seen one of the notices referred to which were taken down by the police. The property, of which the grazing farm in 1254 question forms part, was recently purchased by the Congested Districts Board, who decided to let the farm for grazing until arrangements could be completed for enlarging the small holdings on the estate. It is true that the posting of the notices and the assembling of a crowd of persons frustrated the action of the Board's agent who attended on the 15th instant to receive offers for the grazing. If such offers are not locally forthcoming, the Board will stock the farm with its own cattle, and will indefinitely postpone its intention to enlarge the holdings on the estate. There is not sufficient evidence to sustain proceedings against the persons who assembled on the 15th instant. But the police are giving the matter their close attention. The notice is of a particularly gross character, containing, as it does, references to the years 1881 and 1882 in which outrages were prevalent. It is also quite irrational, since the Board purchased the land with the intention of enlarging all the holdings on the estate. Action of this unlawful and insensate character can only lead to a postponement of the work of relieving congestion; in the first place, because it encourages lawlessness; in the second, because the Congested Districts Board cannot buy untenanted land in order to enlarge small holdings if it is prevented from earning interest on capital sums borrowed for purchase, pending the allocation of such land. Those who framed and posted the notice are acting as the enemies of all who occupy uneconomic holdings.