§ MR. MCKEAN (Monaghan, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland on what grounds the rents of three tenants in the district of Box, Carrickmacross, named Bernard O'Reilly, Thomas Walsh, and Peter Callan, were raised, respectively, from £3 8s., £4, 15s., to £4 2s., 4 18s 6d., and £5 14s. 6d., at a sitting of the Land Commission Court held in Carrickmacross on 5th November; 1907, Mr. Justice Dodd being the presiding Judge and Mr. Williams his assessor; and what are the qualifications of Mr. Williams for the position mentioned.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell). The rents in question were judicially fixed by the Land Commission Court of Appeal udder the provisions of Section 88 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, and the Land Law Acts. It would be entirely irregular for me to ask the Commissioners to state the grounds of their decision. Mr. Williams is one of the assessors appointed pursuant to the eighty-ninth section of the Act of 1903. He was previously an assistant 299 Land Commissioner, and his qualifications when appointed to the latter office in 1906 are stated in House of Commons Return No. 151, of 1902.