THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE, who had given notice to move that there be laid before this House—
Copies or extracts of any correspondence between the Irish Government and the Lieutenants, Deputy Lieutenants, or Magistrates of any county in Ireland relating to the state of crime in such county:A Return of the murders, attempts to murder, aggravated assaults, or agrarian outrages reported by the Royal Constabulary to the authorities in Dublin from the 1st of January 1869 to the 22nd of February 1870, the locality in which each such crime has been committed, the cases in which arrests of supposed offenders have been made, and the results of such arrests, that is, whether the persons arrested have been brought before magistrates, whether they have been committed for trial or discharged by such magistrate, and if committed for trial the results of such trials:A similar Return respecting robberies of arms:A Return of the amount of military force and of constabulary in Ireland on the 1st of January in the years 1850, 1860, and in each subsequent year including the present,said, that having received an intimation from the Government that it would be unadvisable for the sake of the public service that he should proceed to-morrow with his Motion for these Returns and thus provoke a debate to which it was natural the Motion would give rise, he begged leave to postpone it. He would do so without naming any future day, because he was in hopes there would in a short time be a spontaneous declaration of the intentions and views of the Government on the condition of Ireland, which would spare him the necessity of reviving his Motion; but if that hope should not be fulfilled before the end of next week, he should deem it necessary to name a day for proceeding with it.