HC Deb 01 April 1824 vol 11 cc41-6
Mr. Curwen,

in rising, according to notice, to move for a copy of the appointment of the Attorney-general of the Isle of Man, said, that he was not at all influenced by any personal or local feelings, and that his only object was, to procure an equal administration of justice for all parties. The hon. member then went into a detail of the grounds of his motion. He said, that an opinion of the attorney-general of England, in 1789, had recommended, that the attorney-general of the Isle of Man should always be taken from the English bar; an opinion, of which every one who considered the situation of the Island would acknowledge the justness. The governor and lieutenant-governor of that Island sat under their commissions in the court of Chancery, and the attorney-general acted as their assessor. It was, therefore, of the utmost importance, that a person should hold that situation who could render the governor such assistance as he could confide in, and whose decisions would not be suspected of the local partialities and prejudice, which must almost necessarily be imputed to an officer from the Manx bar. In criminal justice the duties of the attorney-general were equally important. All the prosecutions in the island were instituted by him alone. He, assisted by a jury of six, heard the evidence, and he finally sat as one of the judges to affix the punishment. It was not to be supposed that any Manx-man could perform duties such as these to the satisfaction of all parties in the Island. Accordingly an attorney-general had been appointed from the English bar, and, in 1816, his salary was increased from 300l. to 500l. a-year, the additional 200l. being given on the condition of his residing in the Island. In point of fact, however, the attorney-general had not so resided. He only repaired there on a few great occasions, and the business was ordinarily performed by a deputy from the Manx bar, and liable to all the objections against which the appointment of a gentleman from the English bar was intended to guard. It might be said, that a gentleman from the English bar would not accept the office, if the condition of residence were enforced. But the residence of a proper attorney-general was so important to the island, that it would be worth while to pay a larger salary, if his residence was thereby enforced. There was a surplus; revenue in the isle of Man, which the government had not applied; and it was therefore to be presumed, that it was to be considered applicable to insular purposes. A salary of 1,000l. or 1,500l. a-year, would be well bestowed, to secure an object which nearly affected the 40,000 persons residing in the island. He should take occasion to notice an imputation which the right hon. secretary's speech on a former occasion seemed calculated to cast on him (Mr. C), namely, that he had applied for the appointment of one of his sons, who had been named by the right hon gentleman, a judge in the island. He had sat thirty years in; that House, without asking a favour from the right or the left, and he certainly had not deviated from his practice in the case referred to. He concluded by moving for "a copy of the memorial of the House of Keys, complaining of the absence of the attorney-general from the Isle of Man; and also a copy of the appointment of that officer."

Mr. Secretary Peel

said, that the course taken by the hon. member had not a little surprised him. He had moved for papers, which he (Mr. P.) had not the least objection to produce, and, before they were produced, he had entered into details on the subject, which shewed how little value he attached to the papers called for. The hon. member had, however, thus rendered it necessary for him to say a few words on the subject. The question was, what was the best arrangement for the appointment of attorney-general for the Isle of Man. The hon. mover admitted, that the attorney-general should not be an individual from the Manx bar; and indeed it was clear to every one that, with the important functions he had to perform, it was most desirable that he should be a lawyer versed in the liberal principles of English jurisprudence; which nothing but practice in the English courts would give. Being agreed on this point, in what way should they proceed? He must say, that in an island with so limited a revenue as the Isle of Man, expense was a material consideration, and though the hon. member was very liberal in his proposal of giving 1,000l. or 1,500l., he thought the present arrangement was not only less expensive but better. The present attorney-general, Mr. Clarke, was appointed in 1816. He was recorder of Liverpool, and, in that capacity, tried as many criminal cases as any Judge of the kingdom, and should be, and in fact was, competent to much higher functions. As attorney-general of the Isle of Man he had 400l. a year [Mr. Curwen, "500l."]. The nett income he received was 400l., as 100l. was paid to an individual in the Island, for performing the duties in his absence. Mr. Clarke was appointed because he was recorder of Liverpool, and because, after attending the Liverpool sessions, he could repair to the Island with less inconvenience than any other individual of equal eminence. The stipulation under which he was appointed was, that he should repair to the island as often as the public duty required; and in the last twelve months that very eminent individual had repaired thither three times. In one instance there was the rare case of a trial for murder, which it was necessary the attorney-general should conduct in person. In the second case, there was corruption imputed to a judge, which he had referred to the council of the Island. On that occasion Mr. Clarke went to the Island; and he was sorry to say that such impropriety of conduct was proved against a Judge, that he had thought it necessary to advise his majesty to remove him from the office. The hon. member had stated him to have imputed to the hon. mover, the having made an application for the appointment of his son. He could readily acquit the hon. member of any such imputation. The son of the hon. member was the candidate who appeared to him best qualified for the office. On that account he (Mr. P.) had recommended him for the appointment; and he only mentioned the fact, to shew that, at least in that appointment, party motives could have nothing to do. Returning to the appointment of the attorney-general, he contended, that they could not find any one to reside in the island for 4 or 500l. a year; and if they could, it would not be adviseable to get him. They could not even suppose that a gentleman of Mr. Clarke's eminence would go to the island three times a-year for 400l. In fact, money happened to be a subordinate consideration with him; and from the extent of his private fortune, he could afford to make the sacrifice. Why, then, should they displace him? In this, as in every capacity, he performed his duties in an exemplary manner. He had himself received the greatest assistance from him, with regard to the internal legislation of the Island. The sheriffs in Scotland, who were most important officers, were dispensed from residing in their counties more than four months in the year; it being deemed more desirable, that they should practise in the courts of Edinburgh, and thus keep up their knowledge of the law, while they exercised a control over their subordinate officers. If a vacancy occurred (and he hoped sincerely there would not) in the office of attorney-general of the Isle of Man, he should make the best arrangement he could with the candidates who presented themselves; but he thought the manner in which the office was at present filled, left nothing to be desired, and much to be apprehended from a change.

Mr. Hume

said, that his hon. friend had not intended to blame the government for the system at present adopted; but he thought that the conditions on which Mr. Clarke got his appointment should be fulfilled by that gentleman, as long as he chose to hold the office. One of those conditions was, that the attorney-general should reside on the island; and he was in consequence to have an addition of 200l. a-year, to the 300l. a-year enjoyed by his predecessor, making his salary 500l. a-year. But, though he received the salary, he did not reside on the Island.

Mr. Peel

asked the hon. member, how it was possible that residence in the Isle of Man could be made an indispensable condition of Mr. Clarke's holding the situation of attorney-general, when it was notorious, that he had duties to fill at Liverpool as recorder?

General Gascoyne

said, that before Mr. Clarke held the office of attorney-general for the Isle of Man, it had always been considered a sinecure. The salary had, however, been recently increased, in order to obtain the occasional residence of that officer, which had been recommended by lord Sidmouth. Now, Mr. Clarke, from residing in Lancashire, was at no great distance from the Isle of Man, and was always willing to repair thither, whenever he thought his presence would be advantageous.

Mr. Huskisson

said, that the statement of his right hon. friend, as to the mode in which the duties of the office were executed, rendered it unnecessary for him to make a single observation. He would observe, however, that, in point of principle, he thought it desirable that the attorney-general should not reside personally on the island, as it excluded the possibility of that officer mixing himself up with the party differences, which prevailed in the island. If the office were to be vacant to-morrow, he would rather give it to a person of professional eminence, who might go occasionally to the island, than to a person who might be willing to accept it on the condition of permanent residence.

Mr. Curwen,

in reply, said, he should not have troubled the House with any observations; had he been aware that the right hon. gentleman would have assented to his motion, but as he had not felt secure of that assent, he had thought it necessary to lay before the House the grounds on which he deemed himself entitled to the production of the papers. He by no means meant to say that a salary of 400l. was too much for a man of Mr. Clarke's abilities; but he certainly believed, that the addition of 200l. had been granted on the express condition of a constant residence in the island.

The motion was agreed to.