§ MR. O'SHAUGHNESSY (Limerick, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can say how many Sub-Commissioners whose term of office expired have been valuing lands for the landlords in the South of Ireland and giving evidence before the Sub-Commissioners and the Land Commissioners' Court in land cases, and how many gave evidence before Mr. Justice Fitzgerald in Limerick recently; whether their valuations in such cases have been in almost all cases higher than the old 891 rents the tenants were paying; and whether, when these men were appointed Commissioners, he can say it was on the ground of competency to determine the value of land.
MR. BRYCEI am informed by the Land Commission that it would be impossible, even after a very protracted inquiry, to state definitely the number of cases in which gentlemen who had formerly served as Assistant Commissioners have been produced as witnesses before Sub Commission or appeal courts. the Land Commission are, however, aware that at the recent sittings of the Land Commission in Limerick and Kerry, Mr. Croasdale was produced as a valuer on behalf of the landlord in a few eases, and Mr. C. H. Bolster was produced as a valuer on behalf of the tenant in one case. These gentlemen were formerly Assistant Commissioners, but neither had acted as such in the cases in which they were produced as valuers. These cases are still pending for judgment, and the Judicial Commissioner concerned does not think it right to discuss the evidence. Messrs. Croasdale and Bolster were appointed Assistant Commissioners by the executive Government in 1899 and 1896, respectively, and it was then, as now, a condition of the appointment of such officers that they should possess a practical acquaintance with the value of land in Ireland.
§ MR. O'SHAUGHNESSYasked if a certain Sub-Commissioner had not given evidence before Mr. Justice Fitzgerald?