§ MR. WILLIAM O'BRIEN (Cork)I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland whether he is aware that the Lord Chancellor of Ireland and the recorders have now made an order, requiring every county court account in equity proceedings and others to be kept in the joint names of the county court judge or recorder and of the clerk of the peace for the time being; and why this procedure, which has always been followed in the West Riding of the county of Cork, was not followed by the recorder in the East Riding; whether he can yet say when and by whom the investigation into the defalcations of B. Curry, late assistant of the clerk of the peace, will be held; and whether the Southern Law Association, whose allegations have been impugned, will have an opportunity of being represented.
§ MR. CHERRYI am informed by the clerk of the peace that the order referred to in the Question was received in Cork on the 20th instant. He also tells me that there has not hitherto been in the West Riding of the county of Cork any 878 printed or written rule in existence regulating the lodgment of money in court other than the rules of 1890 under the County Officers and Courts Act of 1877, but that the practitioners in that jurisdiction followed the practice of lodging all monies paid into court to the joint credit of the county court judge and the clerk of the peace. In the great majority of cases the East Riding practitioners, he also informs me, have followed the same procedure, and it is only in a few cases in which the practice has been unfortunately departed from that the misappropriation of monies by Curry has taken place. I can assure the hon. Member that I shall endeavour by every possible means to recover the money which has been lost, for the benefit of the suitors in the court, but I can make no statement as to any special inquiry into the matter until the proceedings which are about to be commenced against the sureties of Curry and of the late clerk of the peace are brought to a hearing.
§ MR. WILLIAM O'BRIENI do not, of course, blame the hon. and learned Gentleman for statements which are supplied to him by others, but I want to know who, in his opinion, should really be held responsible for these embezzlements. I should like to ask him, further, whether it is quite fair for an official to suggest that solicitors are to blame for not observing a rule which is now for the first time promulgated?
§ MR. CHERRYI should not like to state, in my place here, who I think is responsible for the matter. It may be a question of criminal liability, and it would be very unfair for me to make any such statement as suggested. With regard to the second Question, the official only answered the interrogatory put to him by me with reference to the facts. He does not blame solicitors for not observing the rule; he merely states the fact that under the existing rule most of the solicitors in the East Riding had lodged the money to joint credit, but that, unfortunately, some had departed from that practice.
§ MR. WILLIAM O'BRIENWill the hon. and learned Gentleman say whether in the proposed Inquiry a hearing will be given to the Southern Law Association, which represents the solicitors, and which 879 has unanimously given an opinion different to that of the official in question?
§ MR. CHERRYI should not like to answer a hypothetical Question. When the Question comes up of appointing a Commission of Inquiry, if one is appointed at all, then will be the time to raise the point. But it may be there will be no necessity for an Inquiry.
§ MR. WILLIAM O'BRIENSurely it will be necessary to inquire whether or not it was the fault of the Recorder of Cork that his officer was guilty of this offence.
§ MR. CHERRYI cannot answer that Question.
§ MR. WILLIAM O'BRIENI shall take an early opportunity of calling attention to this matter.