(Say) 11,564,500-11,600,000
Balance available for Constabulary, collection of Revenue, Imperial contribution and Irish services.
It must be recollected that the Irish Government has to provide for increase of Irish services beyond £5,462,000 by taxation.
VI.—The Judiciary, The Police, And The Maintenance Of Law And Order. By Thomas F. Molony, K.C., His Majesty's Second Serjeant-at-Law, Crown Counsel for Dublin.
(1) The Judiciary
The Supreme Court of Judicature in Ireland is at present constituted as follows: The Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, two Lords Justices of Appeal, two Judges of the Chancery Division and six Puisne Judges of the King's Bench Division. On the occurrence of the next vacancy in the office of Lord Chief Baron the office is to be abolished and a Puisne Judge appointed instead. Since the year 1897, six judgeships have been abolished in Ireland, and a large saving thereby effected. The duties formerly discharged by the Probate and Matrimonial Judge, the Admiralty Judge and the two Bankruptcy Judges have been transferred to the King's Bench Division and the number of the Puisne Judges of the King's Bench Division has been reduced by two.[107] With every desire for economy it is believed that the Supreme Court Bench cannot be further reduced without interfering with the efficiency of the public service. The Lord Chancellor of [pg 158] Ireland is appointed by having the Great Seal delivered to him by the Crown, and all the other Judges are appointed by His Majesty by Letters Patent. There are also in Ireland five Recorders and sixteen County Court Judges, who are appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant. The County Court Judges in Ireland are also Chairmen of the Quarter Sessions of their respective counties. No Judge of the Supreme Court or of the County Court can be removed from his office except upon the address of both Houses of Parliament. Under the Home Rule Bill the position of existing judges is to remain unchanged, and future judges are to be appointed by the Irish Executive, and can only be removed by a joint address of both Houses of the Irish Parliament which gives them the same independence that the existing Judges now enjoy. Under the Bill of 1893, the Imperial Executive was to have the appointment of Judges for six years after the passing of the Act, but there seems to be no justification for the suspensory period and it has been wisely dropped from the present measure. The Irish Executive will not be “irresponsible and inexperienced” as Mr. J. H. Campbell says in “Against Home Rule—The Case for the Union” (page 54), but will be composed of men who for many years have served in the Imperial Parliament, and are well qualified from their ability and experience to at once take up the reins of Government.
(2) The Police
There are two distinct police forces in Ireland. The Dublin Metropolitan force[108] has jurisdiction over the Dublin Metropolitan District, which includes the whole of the City of Dublin and portion of the County. It [pg 159] consists of 2 Commissioners, 7 Superintendents, 25 Inspectors, 187 Sergeants and 1,060 Constables, and costs £154,181 per annum.[109] Portion of the cost is met by a police tax of 8d. in the £ on the rateable value of the district, but a substantial balance—in the present year amounting to £96,466—is borne by the Treasury. The Royal Irish Constabulary[110] has jurisdiction over the rest of Ireland, including Belfast. It consists of 1 Inspector-General, 1 Deputy Inspector-General, 3 Assistant Inspectors-General, 37 County Inspectors, 195 District Inspectors, 235 Head Constables, 2,068 Sergeants and 8,182 Constables. It costs £1,413,069 per annum, the whole of which is borne by the Treasury.[111] There is a fundamental difference between the two forces. The Dublin force has been founded on the model of the London Metropolitan Police, and is essentially a civilian force. It is admirably trained in police duties, and has always discharged its duty to the satisfaction of the citizens. The Royal Irish Constabulary is drilled and trained in the use of the revolver, rifle, and sword in the same manner as are the armed forces of the Crown, and is in every essential a military organization. There is a reserve force always kept at the Depôt in the Phœnix Park which at a moment's notice is available for service in any part of Ireland. The Bill proposes that the control of the Dublin Metropolitan Police be transferred immediately to the Irish Executive, but that the Royal Irish Constabulary shall remain under Imperial control for six years. An Irish Executive which could not control the police force of its own metropolis would be in a ridiculous position, and no believer in self-government can object to the immediate transfer of the Dublin [pg 160] force to the Irish Executive, and indeed, many think that the same course ought to be adopted with regard to the Royal Irish Constabulary. It has for a long period, been a constant source of complaint that the numbers of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and its consequent cost, are entirely out of proportion to the wants of the country. It was created in a time of agrarian disturbance which has long since passed away, and now that Ireland has been for many years far more free from serious crime than either England or Scotland, it is absurd that in Ireland it should cost 6s. 8d. per head of the population for police, while an equally efficient force can be provided, in England for 3s. 4d. per head, and in Scotland for 2s. 5d. per head. In Ireland there is one policeman for every 365 inhabitants, while in England and Wales there is only one for every 727 inhabitants.[112]