§ MR. WALTER LONGTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland what was the number of persons wholly boycotted in Ireland on the 1st instant; the number of persons partially boycotted on the same date, and the number of other persons affected by boycotting whose cases were recorded in the Returns made by the constabulary authorities, but which are not regarded as falling into the category of persons wholly or partially boycotted; and will he also define the classification followed by the authorities in recording cases of boycotting under each of these heads.
§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Inspector-General of the Royal Irish
828§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The following table gives the information asked for: —
§ Constabulary informs me that on the 1st instant there were three cases under the head of wholly boycotted, and seven under that of partially boycotted. The number of cases in which persons were boycotted in a minor degree, or in which attempts were made to boycott, was seventy-three. Serious cases of boycotting are those in which the boycotted person's means of livelihood are affected, as by the refusal to sell provisions to him in local shops, the refusal of labourers to work for him, the refusal of neighbours to buy from or sell to him, and such like. When several such conditions prevail, and the person is gravely affected, the person is regarded as wholly boycotted. When the circumstances are not so grave, but the person 829 is still seriously affected, the case is regarded as one of partial boycotting. When the boycotting consists of petty isolated acts, as distinguished from organised or sustained boycotting, or when an attempt is made to boycott, but the effect is inappreciable, the case falls within the third category mentioned.