§ MR. MOORE (Armagh, N.)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 these returns comprised eleven cases which were described as instances of minor boycotting, and that in five of these 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.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Answer to the first two paragraphs of the Question is in the affirmative. The local police, who are acquainted with all the circumstances, classify the cases of boycotting upon the principles which are fully stated in my reply to a Question put by the right hon. Member for South Dublin on 20th March, 1907.