§ Mr. SAMUEL YOUNGasked the Chief Secretary if he could state the total number of magistrates in the county of Armagh; how many were Roman Catholics and how many Protestants of all denominations; how many Catholics would be on the Bench if members of that denomination were appointed in proportion to their population in the county at the Census for 1901; and what steps would be taken to redress the inequality?
§ Mr. BIRRELLOne hundred and seventy-one persons at present hold the Commission of the Peace for County Armagh, of whom 33 are believed to be Roman Catholics and 138 to be Protestants of various denominations. According to the Census of 1901, 45 per cent. of the population of the county were Roman Catholic. The Lord Chancellor is always prepared to consider suitable names for appointment to the magistracy which may be transmitted to him from representative sources.