HC Deb 17 June 1858 vol 150 cc2277-8

Order for Second Reading read.

MR. BAGWELL

said, he approved of the provisions of the Bill generally, but thought it would require some amendment in Committee. He thought that each bench of magistrates ought to have the appointment of its own clerk, instead of those appointments being vested in the magistrates at quarter sessions. There were some other alterations which he should desire to see made in the Bill.

MR. SULLIVAN

said, he thought that there were no defects in the Bill which could not be remedied in Committee. He, as an Irish Member, felt obliged to the noble Lord the Chief Secretary for Ireland for having introduced this measure; and he was sure that the suggestions of the hon. Member for Clonmel, and other Irish Members, would receive due consideration from the noble Lord when the Bill was in Committee.

MR. GREGORY

said, he was of opinion that much credit was due to the noble Lord the Chief Secretary for Ireland for having solved a question which had long been one of difficulty, and solved it in a manner satisfactory to both the Irish Members and the petty sessions clerks themselves.

LORD NAAS

said, it was exceedingly satisfactory to him to find that the main provisions of this Bill were so generally approved of by the Irish Members. With regard to the provision for the appointment of the clerks by the magistrates at quarter sessions, that was indispensable, because it was proposed that in some districts the clerks should do duty in two or three courts of petty sessions; and therefore, unless the appointments of clerks were placed in some other hands than those of the magistrates at petty sessions, their appointments might lead to unpleasant differences. It was also provided that no clerk should be removed from his office without the sanction of the Lord Lieutenant. This was intended as a security to clerks, that they should not be removed except in cases where there was ample reason for their removal. He thought there was no doubt that there would be sufficient funds under this Bill to provide retiring allowances for such clerks as should enter office after the passing of the Act. There were one or two minor points which he would amend in Committee.

MR. DE VERE

congratulated the noble Lord on the success the Bill had met with, and asked whether it would be necessary to require an oath to be taken from the clerks? If so, it ought to be framed in clear and intelligible terms.

Bill read 2°, and committed for Monday next.