§ 53. Mr. GINNELLasked the Prime Minister if he will define the plenary powers with which General Maxwell is invested in Ireland; and whether before debate on this subject the House will be furnished with copies of all the orders issued by General Maxwell in Ireland, and with a full list of the unarmed civilians killed after the rebels had surrendered?
§ The PRIME MINISTERWith regard to the first part of the question, General Maxwell's powers were contained in a letter from the Army Council dated 28th April and in a proclamation suspending in Ireland the operations of Section 1 of the Defence of the Realm Act, 1915, which was published in the "London Gazette" of the 26th April. I will circulate a copy of the former document with the OFFICIAL REPORT.—[See Written Answers.]
I will have the information asked for in the second part of the question collected and communicated to the House as soon as possible, I am not certain what information the hon. Member refers to in the last part of his question, but it is hoped to issue a complete list of casualties, military and civil, to-morrow.
§ Mr. MAURICE HEALYCan the right hon. Gentleman say who exercises General Maxwell's powers in his absence in London?
§ The PRIME MINISTERHe has not been absent in London—only a few hours.
§ Mr. DILLON(by Private Notice) asked the Prime Minister whether he can give an undertaking that no more military executions by secret military tribunals will take place in Ireland, and whether he can let the House know whether any executions have taken place since those which were carried out on Monday morning last?
§ The PRIME MINISTERAs I stated yesterday, I cannot give the undertaking asked for by the hon. Gentleman. The trials by court-martial of those who took an active part in the rising in Dublin are practically finished, and, beyond two sentences which have already been confirmed, we have the best reasons for hoping and believing that there may be no further necessity to proceed with the extreme penalty.
§ Mr. DILLONI desire to put some further questions of which also I have given 632 private notice. It may be for the convenience of the Prime Minister that I should put them all together.
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am afraid I cannot answer them all.
§ Mr. DILLONI will read them all together. They are as follows:—
- (1) Whether any prisoners have been shot without trial or have been shot after trial without any public announcement of their names, and, if so, how many;
- (2) Whether there is any, and, if any, what authority with power to check or control the military officers now ruling Ireland; whether the Lord Lieutenant or any officials of the Irish Government have any authority over them; and how long it is proposed to maintain this military dictatorship;
- (3) On what ground the whole of Ireland has been placed under martial law, and why searches of houses and wholesale arrests are being carried out in districts where there was no disturbance and in which the population remained peaceful and loyal;
- (4) Whether he can state the circumstances under which Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington was shot at Portobello Barracks;
- (5) Whether he can explain why Sir Roger Casement has been brought to London, and is apparently to have a public trial before a civil tribunal, whilst comparatively obscure men whom he has been largely responsible for seducing into rebellion have been sentenced and executed in Ireland by secret military tribunal; and
- (6) Whether the censorship is preventing the publication of expressions of opinion from the United States of America and other neutral countries on the policy of the military executions in Dublin?
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSI desire to raise a point of Order. I understand that private notice questions are not allowed to be put except upon matters of urgency. I submit that, at any rate, three out of four of these questions are not on matters of urgency, and might quite well be put on the Notice Paper. I desire to ask you, Sir, why the rules which apply to us should not also apply to the hon. Member for East Mayo?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member for East Mayo did not give me a copy of any of these questions, as, following the ordinary procedure, he ought to have done; 633 but I rather think that the majority of these questions are urgent. It is very difficult to say, having only just heard them in this way, and not having had sufficient time to consider them, but I think that I should probably have held that certainly the greater part of them were urgent.
§ Mr. DILLONI desire to apologise to you, Sir, and to assure you that if I failed to send you notice of the questions it was not from any want of courtesy, but simply because I have taken little part in the proceedings of the House for some time, and have fallen somewhat out of touch with the procedure.
§ The PRIME MINISTERI think that, perhaps, I also might have had rather longer notice of these questions. They reached me only at half-past twelve today.
§ Mr. DILLONI could not get away from Dublin.
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am not complaining in the least. I will answer those that I can. With regard to the first question, as far as I know the answer is in the negative.
§ Mr. T. M. HEALYHas the Prime Minister inquired whether two other innocent men, Mr. McIntyre and Mr. Dixon, have received trial or have been shot?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am going to deal with that. This question refers to prisoners, and my answer is confined to them.
As to Question 3, I must have an opportunity of inquiring, and I must ask the hon. Member to supply me with particulars.
In reply to Question 2, the General Officer Commanding in Ireland is under the authority of His Majesty's Government. With regard to the second part of the question, the General Officer Commanding acts in constant consultation and concert with the civilian officials of the Irish Government.
In regard to the last part of the question, it is the earnest hope of the Government that normal conditions may be resumed at the earliest possible moment.
In regard to the case of Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington—which was also raised yesterday by the hon. Member for Burnley—of which I had heard nothing before, I tele- 634 graphed at once or caused a telegram to be sent to the General Officer Commanding, and I have received this answer this morning:
Skeffington was shot on morning 26th April, without the knowledge of the military authorities. The matter is now under investigation. The officer concerned has been under arrest since the 6th May as soon as the report of the occurrence was received.Directions have been given to bring his case before a court-martial.
§ Mr. T. M. HEALYHe should be handed over to the civil authorities as an ordinary murderer.
§ The PRIME MINISTERThis is apparently an isolated act, and the responsible officer, so far as we know—I am not prejudging the matter—as soon as the report was received, was at once put under arrest and will be brought before a court-martial. The House may be certain that justice, or whatever justice requires, will be done. With regard to the cases referred to by the hon and learned Member for Cork (Mr. T. M. Healy), which are alleged to have taken place at the same time and under the same conditions, the same procedure will be pursued. I have not yet got, although I telegraphed for them, particulars with regard to these cases, but I believe it is alleged that the same officer was responsible. The military authorities—General Maxwell and the officers in command—not only have no responsibility for, but no knowledge of, this occurrence. As soon as it was brought to their knowledge they at once put the officer concerned under arrest.
The answer to Question 6 is in the negative.
In regard to Sir Roger Casement (Question No. 5), this is a very serious matter, as it affects a man who is under suspicion and about to undergo his trial. I therefore think in fairness to all parties I should have a little more notice of this question.
§ Mr. DILLONThe right hon. Gentleman did not reply to one important question, and that was whether there have been any executions in Dublin since Monday morning? There is no news at all from Dublin in this morning's papers, and for some of us that is rather a serious sign. I would ask whether the right hon. Gentleman can say whether there have been any further executions?
§ The PRIME MINISTERNo, Sir; so far as I know, not.
§ Mr. W. O'BRIENI rise to ask the Prime Minister now whether he can state 635 the result of his inquiries in reference to the message which I read to the House yesterday as to the military excesses?
§ The PRIME MINISTERYes, Sir. In reply to a message I have received this:
The Editor of 'Cork Examiner' has not been arrested nor has his paper been suppressed. Arrested men in Cork Prison are allowed daily exercise as recommended by the medical authorities. Prisoners are allowed to see their clergymen. No protests have been made by civil authorities or brother officers against Captain Harvest's treatment of prisoners. The prisoners will be arraigned and tried in accordance with procedure approved by His Majesty's Government. No insurrection has taken place in Cork. Captain Harvest is carrying out his duties to the satisfaction of the General Officer commanding Queenstown and Cork.
§ Mr. O'BRIENWhat is the meaning of all that, Sir? I never for a moment suggested that the editor of the "Cork Examiner" had been arrested, or his newspaper suppressed. What I did suggest, and what I did ask for, was whether a raid by the military had not been made upon the office of the "Cork Free Press," which, from the beginning of the War to this moment, has faced unpopularity and heavy loss in order to preach friendship with England, and for which—[HON. MEMBERS: "Order, order!"]—
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member must not take this opportunity of making a speech, but must ask a question.
§ Mr. O'BRIENYes, Sir. Then I ask whether the Prime Minister has any information as to the question which I did ask, namely, as to the outrage on the "Cork Free Press"?
§ Mr. T. M. HEALYThere is a suggestion or imputation of hypocrisy against us as a party in this matter of the raid on the office of the "Cork Free Press." The suggestion that we have been in some way involved in this business we regard as an imputation of hypocrisy.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member is not asking a question; he is giving information, and that is out of order.
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am sorry if I misunderstood the matter, but I understood the reference was to the "Cork Examiner." However, I will inquire about the "Cork Free Press."
§ Mr. O'BRIENWill the Government convey a hint to the right quarters in Cork that they do not there want irresponsible panic-mongers to goad the 636 people of one of the friendliest districts in Ireland into violence by this stupid policy of frightfulness?
§ Mr. GINNELLI would like to ask the Prime Minister a question, of which I have given him private notice; whether, seeing that large numbers of Irish Catholic prisoners—
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat does not appear to me to be an urgent question.
§ Mr. GINNELLIt has relevance to the—
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member will perhaps put it on the Paper.