§ MR. JOHN HAMILTONasked the Lord Advocate, Why the instructions to the Boundary Commissioners for Scotland, as printed in their Report, contain a third paragraph instructing them to take into consideration the pursuits of 379 the population in counties, which was not in the instructions laid before the House of Commons, and issued to the public at the time the Commissioners held their meetings in Scotland; and, why no public mention was then made of amended instructions having been issued?
THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR)It is true that in the Correspondence with the Secretary of State as to the appointment of Commissioners, which was laid on the Table of the House, and which contained a statement of the duties of the Commissioners, there was no Instruction to take into consideration the pursuits of the people in counties. But in the Instructions actually issued to the Commissioners for England and Wales, and also for Scotland, this defect was supplied, and the Commissioners were especially directed that in dealing both with county and burgh divisions special regard should be had to the pursuits of the population. The Instructions to the Commissioners for Scotland were not signed until after the close of the Autumn Session, and consequently could not be presented to Parliament, or published as a Parliamentary Paper, till Parliament reassembled. The Instruction in question is, I venture to think, even more required in the case of counties than of burghs.