§ MR. HICKS BEACH (Gloucestershire, Tewkesbury)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the chairman of the Roscommon County Council 373 has become treasurer of the County Council Defence Fund, started on behalf of men who have been sent to gaol for agrarian offences; whether, in view of this gentleman's duties as a justice of the peace, his conduct has been brought to the notice of the Lord Chancellor; and, if so, what action has been taken in this matter.
§ MR. BIRRELLMr. John Fitzgibbon, chairman of the Roscommon County Council, has been appointed treasurer of the defence fund referred to in the Question. I understand that Mr. Fitzgibbon, though a justice of the peace ex officio, has declined to act as such, but in any event, the fact that he is treasurer of the defence fund in question, does not call for interference on the part of the Government.