§ Mr. J. DEVLIN (Belfast, W.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the reason why no representative of Ireland has been appointed on the Royal Commission to inquire into the manufacture of whisky; and whether, in view of the fact that the question is of vital concern to a number of whisky manufacturers and traders in Ireland, he will consider the advisability of giving Ireland adequate representation on the Commission.
§ MR. JOHN BURNSPerhaps I may be allowed to answer this Question. I communicated with the Irish Local Government Board before the Royal Commission was constituted. They nominated Professor Adeney, the curator of the Royal University of Ireland and a leading examiner in chemistry, to act on it, and he was appointed accordingly. I may add that it was not intended that the manufacturers and traders should be represented on the Commission. They will be asked to give evidence before it.
§ MR. J. DEVLINasked whether it was not a fact that the appointment of this gentleman had given rise to the greatest dissatisfaction in all parts of Ireland; that no one had ever heard of him until his appointment was announced; and that Professor Adeney was not an Irishman at all.
§ MR. JOHN BURNSMy information is that the appointment of the Commission as a whole has given general satisfaction amongst those who know most about both pot-still and patent-still whisky, and, until this Question was put 1362 on the Paper, I had received no complaint as to either its constitution or its personnel.
§ MR. J. DEVLINHas not the right hon. Gentleman seen protests in different parts of the country—in the Daily Independent and even from the Irish correspondent of the London Times—and are those who are not interested in this question those who are to be consulted as to the character of the Commission?
§ MR. JOHN BURNSMy information does not altogether tally with that of the hon. Gentleman, for a London paper this morning [Cries of "Which "]—the Standard, which in this matter is, I should say, as authoritative as The Times—says, "Pot-still distillers would prefer the Commission to be impartial and remote from the trade."
§ MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)May I say that we on these benches desire that the Commission should be impartial, and the right hon. Gentleman should endeavour to get the name of some Irishman who will command the confidence of all parties in Ireland instead of allowing the Local Government Board in Ireland to nominate a gentleman of whom nobody ever heard in Ireland, and against whom, both in Belfast and in Dublin, there have been strong protests?
§ MR. JOHN BURNSI have taken every step that one could reasonably take to ascertain the qualifications of this particular gentleman for this particular purpose, and I have received this letter from a gentleman who, on this matter, I consider to be as authoritative as anybody else in Ireland:—"I have no knowledge of Professor Adeney's politics, religion or parentage, but he has been in Ireland practically all his life, and I fancy upon the particular question of the distinctive differences in the chemical composition of genuine and adulterated potable spirits his knowledge is equal to that of any expert in the United Kingdom, as he has made a special study of this subject. His degree of Doctor of Science of the Royal University was conferred upon him by the 1363 Senate on account of his researches in bacterial fermentation, among other allied chemical objects. He had a very distinguished college career, and he has held various posts in connection with chemistry and research, and is now an examiner in chemistry and curator of the science department of the Royal University of Ireland. He has been vice-president of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland, and has represented Ireland on the council of that body." May I add myself, as a lifelong abstainer from both pot-still and patent-still, that I thought this man the best man to appoint?
§ MR. J. DEVLINIs he an Irishman, and is the writer of that letter Sir W. S. Gilbert?
§ MR. JOHN BURNSNo; Sir Henry Robinson.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDOh! Sir Henry Robinson.
§ MR. J. MACVEAGHWhy is this Commission composed mainly of Englishmen, seeing that whisky is manufactured mainly in Ireland and Scotland, and that Englishmen know nothing about whisky except the consumption of it?
[No Answer was returned.]