§ MR. WALTER LONGTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the number of men who have been appointed Assistant Commissioners to the Land Commission in Ireland under the system of examination adopted in 1899; and what system has been substituted for the examination to which previous candidates wore called upon to submit themselves.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The number of persons appointed Assistant Land Commissioners who had qualified under the system of examination adopted in 1899 was twenty-one. The Irish Government satisfied itself that the gentlemen recently selected possessed the statutory qualifications required for the post and had experience which would have made it quite superflous to subject them to examination. The rules do not require examination.