§ Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLasked the Secretary of State for War (1) what is the official position of Major Price, who stated in his evidence before the Royal Commission of Inquiry, in reference to the facts connected with the Sinn Fein insurrection, that he acted as an intermediary between the military authorities in Ireland, the Under-Secretary, Dublin Castle, the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the Dublin Metropolitan Police; is this person an officer in the Army; if so, in what corps has he served, what is his military experience, and where and for what previous services was he given the commission of a major; whether it was at the instance of the military authorities and as their intermediary that Major Price forced himself into the cell of a prisoner on the eve of his trial by a military tribunal on a capital charge in connection with the insurrection and continued to interrogate him, with a view to obtaining information in relation to the rebellion by inducements, threats, or promise to the prisoner of gaining some advantage or avoiding some evil in reference to the proceedings against him; will he say what is the official salary of Major Price and from what source is that salary derived; whether his visit to a political prisoner under such circumstances was in the ordinary course of his duty or a special service outside the sphere of his ordinary employment; and if so, what was the extra remuneration thus earned, and by whom was he authorised to visit, unsolicited by him, a prisoner awaiting trial; and what was the reason of the adoption of such a course; and (2) if he will say who furnished, to Sir John Maxwell on the 5th May the report of the murders in Portobello Barracks on the 25th April, on receipt of which Captain Bowen-Colthurst was placed under arrest; whether, having regard to the fact that the commanding officer of Portobello Barracks reported these murders to the Irish military headquarters on the 27th April, how was Sir John Maxwell in ignorance of the murders till the 5th May; when did the 1637W report of the commanding officer at Portobello Barracks on the 27th April in reference to the murders reach the intelligence officer at the Irish military headquarters, and did the intelligence officer, on receipt of the report, instantly communicate with Sir John Maxwell; if not, what explanation, if any, can be offered for the fact that Sir John Maxwell was kept in ignorance of the perpetration of these murders and gave to the murderer on the 1st May the defence of Portobello Barracks; and who was the intelligence officer at the Irish military headquarters on the 27th April, when the report of the Portobello murders was sent to town headquarters?
§ Mr. FORSTERI am making inquiries in connection with these questions.