§ MR. MOOREI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to the observations of the Lord Chief Justice at the Clare Spring Assizes, on which occasion the learned Judge, referring to the returns of boycotting presented to him by the police authorities, pointed out that those returns comprised eleven cases which were described as instances of minor boycotting, and that in five of those cases people not only declined to associate with or deal with the boycotted families, but the latter were also compelled to go considerable distances for the necessaries of life; whether the cases of these five families have since been retained on the list of persons boycotted in a minor degree; and will he state in what respects their cases differ from others which are included in the category of serious boycotting.
§ MR. BIRRELLDuring the twelve months ended 31st July last, 1,237 persons were charged with the offence of cattle-driving; 1,058 persons were ordered to find bail to keep the peace, and of those seventy-one were committed to prison for various terms, ranging generally from fourteen days to three months, in default of finding bail. In one case thirty-two persons were tried at Assizes, but the proceedings resulted in a disagreement of the jury.