HC Deb 06 July 1922 vol 156 cc574-5
52. Colonel NEWMAN

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the compensation of loyalists in the South of Ireland, who have had their stock driven from their lands and have not been able to recover the same, and have had, in addition, been forced by threats to abandon their homes and taken refuge in England, has formed the subject of an agreement between the. Government of Great Britain and the heads of the Irish Provisional Government; and is he aware that these men have in the majority of cases no means of livelihood except that derived from farming?

Mr. CHURCHILL

No, Sir. As I stated in reply to a question addressed to me by the hon. and learned Member for York (Sir J. Butcher) on the 3rd instant, this matter will have to be considered between the two Governments, but the present moment is not opportune for that purpose.

Colonel NEWMAN

What ought a man to do who is living exiled in this country, his land having been seized and his cattle stolen?

Mr. CHURCHILL

If the circumstances are so urgent, and his distress is so great that he has no means of carrying on for the period—I hope a short one—which will elapse before order is effectively restored, he should apply to the Committee presided over by the hon. and gallant Member for Chelsea (Sir S. Hoare).

Mr. G. MURRAY

Has the right hon. Gentleman extended the powers of that Committee yet?

Mr. CHURCHILL

They—not so much the powers, but the functions and scope of the Committee—are in process of being extended.