HC Deb 16 November 1908 vol 196 cc871-2
CAPTAIN CRAIG

I beg to ask the Prime Minister whether he is aware that Patrick Ford, who was declared by three of His Majesty's Judges to be a known advocate of crime and the use of dynamite, and O'Meagher Condon, who was sentenced to death for the murder of an English policeman, intend visiting this country; whether their licences permit them to do so; and, if not, what action the Executive propose to take in the matter.

MR. GLADSTONE

I beg to answer this question on behalf of my right hon. friend. I am not aware of the intentions of these persons. Neither of them is the holder of a licence.

CAPTAIN CRAIG

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a public invitation has been given by the hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Waterford to these persons to come over to this country to preach Home Rule, and will they be allowed to land?

MR. GLADSTONE'S

reply was inaudible.

EARL WINTERTON

May I ask whether these two men are not well-known criminals?

MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)

I rise to a point of order. One of the persons mentioned in this Question is an official of the United States Government and is it to be permitted that an epithet such as that is to be applied to a high official in the service of the United States and one who has been so for twenty years?

* MR. SPEAKER

There are two statements with reference to these gentlemen in this Question, and I did not understand that they are contradicted.

MR. JOHN REDMOND

Certainly they are contradicted.

* MR. SPEAKER

I did not understand that they were.

MR. JOHN REDMOND

Most undoubtedly.

* MR. SPEAKER

If it is not true that one of these gentlemen was declared by His Majesty's Judges to have been an advocate of crime and that one was sentenced to death, of course these statements ought not to have appeared on the Paper.

CAPTAIN CRAIG

Arising out of that I hold myself responsible for what has appeared in this Question, and I shall be very glad to give the hon. and learned Member sufficient proof to satisfy him that the facts are as stated.

MR. GLADSTONE

Perhaps I had better, under the circumstances, say that Mr. Ford, so far as I know, has not been convicted of a criminal offence in this country, and as regards Mr. O'Meagher Condon, he received a pardon under the Great Seal as far back as 1878.