THE PARNELL COMMISSION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 42, 8 February 1889, Page 5

THE PARNELL COMMISSION.

Th» correspondent of the Dublin Freeman says :— A very large number of witnesses were examined on Tuesday, December 24, but their evidence, with the exception of that given by Miss Lucy Thompson, of Kerry, possessed little or no interest. A man named FreJy told of the murder of bis son, which, he believed, had nothing whatever to do with the Land League. J> hn Dillon, a bailiff on au estate near Ball; hauu is, was examined in reference to the murder of hid father, to whose office he succeeded. Sir Charles Russell crossexamined the witness. After a few preliminary questions, he asked Dillon to answer if he had ever heard a rumour that his father had been murdered by a police-coostable. The question came upon everyone with surprise, and the witness, after a slight hesitation, said he bad heard the statement made. Mr. Bhaen Carter, a Mayo laudlord, who had to have his leg amputated from the effects of a gunshot wound inflicted on him while driving from Belmullet fair, waa next examined. Witness gave no abatements till the Commissioners came on his land. The witness alleged that la one or more cases the Commissioners increased the rent, but tiir Charles could fiud no instance in the Government official returns. Ou the wno c theie was a decrease of between twenty nud thirty pur cent., auJ among the instances quoted by Sir Charles was one iv which thedbcreise w&3 fiom £18 19a to £8 10a. This the witness protested to be a mistake, swearing that the man's rent was never £18, but more probably £8. When Mr, Lockwood got up, he was able to give the Court, two instances in which the rent hid beau judicially increaued. They were not very large increases, but the wiines* was elated by the mention of them, and blustered out that there wasn't probably another landlord in Ireland on whose property other judicial rent increases could be found. Sir Charles Russell agreed with the witnesß that there were not many such landlords.

Mies Lucy Tnompaon is a landowner and land agent in Kerry ; she manages the estate of a Mr. Hurley (deceased), the extent of which id nearly ten thouian i acres ; she has been boycotted, and her foot was once trampled upon to Iralee. Cross-examined by Sir C. Russell, she admitted having evicted the tenauta from thre« or four the usand acres ; Mr. Hurley bought the estate ia 1860, and largely raised the rents (an admission she wat reluctant to make) ; aha did not raise the rent* when she got charge of the property, she only increased them to repay outlay by adding on a big interest that was to last for all time. It was hard to drag this admission out of Miss Thompson. In the case of Molouy, one of her tenants, the increase of reut was from £33 to £45 ; wheu aakeU what advantage Molony got, she said there was a road run through his land. Instead of getting compensation, Miss TnompioD added £12 a year for ever to his rent ; she made no other improvement with the money she borrowed from Government, and for wbicb she made the tenants pay an interest varying from 10 to 36 per cent., to continue for ever. Mrs. Quill's rent was raised ft urn £21 to £43, and Miss Thompsou increased that to £49 since 1880. The rent of thj Aharns was raised trom £12 to £38, and in 1881 v was increased to £48. Garrett Fitzgerald's rent wad raised from £20 to £43, t»nd raised again in 1882 to £49. She would not swear it watt not true that Jeremiah O'Connor's rent wag raised from £38 10a to £55 on hit marriage, and a fine of a year's rent us well. A Jut of cases like the foregoing wat read oat by Sir Charles Russell. The Court was astonished at the fines and increases of rent when tenants got married.