§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNEhaving laid on the table Returns relating to Workhouses in Ireland,
§ LORD MONTEAGLEsaid, in the discussion on the poor law, last year, there was no question more discussed than whether the rates were to be levied by union or electoral divisions. Parliament ultimately decided for the rating by electoral divisions; but he understood the Poor Law Commissioners had treated the funds so raised as a common and united fund, and applied them indiscriminately for the purposes of the whole union, thereby in effect introducing that very system of rating which Parliament had refused to sanction. He wished to ask, therefore, if the Government were aware whether the funds so levied were applied to electoral or union divisions?
§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNEwas not aware that there had been any deviation from the course prescribed by the statutes, and trusted nothing had taken place in Ireland which was at all inconsistent with the intention of the Legislature, that the burden referred to should be thrown upon the electoral division.