QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS. (Hansard, 18 July 1882)

§ VISCOUNT MIDLETON
rose to ask the Lord Privy Seal, When the grant of money to the Royal Irish Constabulary proposed in the Estimates will be paid to them; what course the Government propose to take with regard to the Constabulary Bill; and to call attention to the delay which has taken place in dealing with the question? In doing so, he must complain of the wholly unnecessary delay which had taken place in regard to the question. He did not wish to embarrass the Government; but 849 the subject was one of the greatest possible importance. In the beginning of the year it was generally felt that some compensation should be made to members of the Constabulary Forces for the extra services which they had performed. It was a long time before an item on that account was inserted on the Votes, and when he asked a Question about it he was told that the matter was before the Treasury. Five weeks later, upon asking again, he was told that in a few days the scheme would be brought forward again, and now it was still unsettled. The fact was that the sums of money which were proposed to be paid to the Constabulary had been expended out of pocket by the men in the extra charges to which they had been put by the severe duties which they had performed in the last few years. In several instances the well-earned savings of the men during many years' service had been totally eaten up by those extra expenses, and there was a considerable doubt felt by the men whether they would ever get the compensation at all. Then the officers were to receive nothing at all, which was an additional grievance. Whether the Bill had actually been laid on the Table or not he could not ascertain; but he could not find it on the printed list, which was supposed to contain all the Bills presented. He thought it was a very serious thing that such a great delay should take place. He also complained that one of the senior posts had been taken away from the Constabulary to which officers had hitherto been entitled. He contended that there ought to be some Member in the House who was well acquainted with all Irish affairs, and could give answers to such Questions. The Lord Privy Seal did not post himself up in Irish questions, and then, if his answers were complained of, the noble Earl (the Earl of Kimberley) rose and administered a castigation to the unfortunate offender. Within the last few days a third Cabinet Minister had found himself unable to act with his Colleagues, and had resigned; and he suggested that that was a good opportunity, as the Office of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was vacant, to appoint some of those noble Lords who still were faithful to the Liberal Party, and who knew something about Ireland, to the post. The matter of which he complained was no light one. He knew 850 that the Questions which he asked were questions which were asked in every Constabulary barrack room in Ireland. The Government must remember they were dealing with a highly-educated and intelligent class of men, and men who were assailed, unfortunately, on many sides by the newspapers which were not friends of law and order. Only that morning he saw a paper which almost exulted over the fact that so many delays had taken place in deciding what was to be done with the Irish Constabulary Vote, because it thought that they might get tired and disgusted with the Service in which they had spent their lives. That was a consummation none of them would like to see; and, under those circumstances, it was neither wise nor right to keep such a body of men on the tenter hooks simply because the Government had not found time to apply itself in earnest to a subject which was grave and pressing. That was one of the cases in which it behoved Her Majesty's Government at the present time to be wise, and also to be wise in time.

§ LORD CARLINGFORD (LORD PRIVY SEAL)
said, he was somewhat astonished at the violent outburst of wrath on the part of the noble Viscount, and which should have fallen upon the head of his noble Friend who represented the Treasury (Lord Thurlow), and not upon himself. He must remind the noble Lord that the question was one of time, and the Treasury were not able to concentrate their whole attention on the subject as the noble Lord was. But he (Lord Carlingford) entirely denied the justice of the statement that he was not prepared to and did not take sufficient pains to be able to answer daily Questions, provided he had reasonable Notice of them. At the present time the noble Viscount had asked him a Question about promotion in the Royal Irish Constabulary which he could not answer, simply because he had not the slightest Notice of it. If Notice had been given of that he would have been able to answer it. With respect to the matter of the Constabulary allowances and pensions, upon which there had, no doubt, been more delay than he had expected, he was happy to state that the Treasury had now agreed to the recommendations of the Irish Government, and had given their sanction to the scheme proposed. It was now merely a question of bringing in a short Consta- 851 bulary Bill, which was necessary for one part of the arrangement, and which was now being prepared and would be brought in at once. The money, of course, could not be paid until the Vote had been taken, and that would be done by a Supplementary Estimate in a short time. The matter had lately been brought to a conclusion, and, he believed, a satisfactory one.

TUE EARL OF LONGFORD
said, the noble Lord might be satisfied with the plan he proposed, but the Irish Constabulary would not, after the hopes that had been held out to them, and the length of time they had been compelled to wait for the promised recognition of their services.