REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS — HERTFORD. (Hansard, 10 June 1841)

§ Mr. T. Duncombe
moved the Order of the Day for calling in the clerk of the peace for the county of Hertford to the bar.

Mr. Story,
the clerk of the peace for the county of Hertford, then appeared at the bar, with a large book in his hand.

§ The Speaker
said, you are ordered to attend this day with a copy of the register of the electors of the county of Hertford. Is that a copy in your hand?

§ The Speaker
Please to deliver it in. You may withdraw.

§ Mr. T. Duncombe
said, he should like to have that copy of the register printed. He did not know that the House would consent to it, but he had a right to ask the question. He would take the opportunity of observing, he did not think they had dealt with the clerk of the peace too harshly on this occasion. He thought it right to state, that after the order of the House, he had referred to several of the principal law-stationers in London, to know in what time they could furnish a copy of the Finsbury list of electors, containing 13,000 names, and was informed by Messrs. Fry law-stationers of Gray's Inn, that it could be copied in two or three hours, in which time they would engage to get it done. Therefore, he thought, they had not been too hard upon the clerk of the peace, in ordering him to produce a copy this day. He should be content whether this question was referred to the printing committee, or that the House should decide whether the copy should be printed or not. The House would remember, that the copy was ordered to be laid on the Table to redress the grievances of the electors of Hertford, but there were no means of redressing those grievances, except the register was printed. It was the duty of the House to protect the elective franchise, and he thought the exercise of that franchise had been impeded by the delay of the clerk of the peace to furnish a copy of the register. He could see no use in the copy lying on the Table. Moreover, his motion was not unprecedented. In 1834, the hon. Member for Dublin had moved that the register of Carrickfergus be printed, and it was printed by order of the House. He, therefore, moved, that this copy of the register be printed.

§ Sir R. Inglis
thought, the question which was put to the clerk of the peace referred to the time in which he himself, with the assistance of his clerks, could make a copy of the register. Any professional person must be aware, that by cutting the register to pieces, it could be accomplished in three hours. With respect to the motion before the House, he believed, that if the register were printed, not more than ten copies would be sold, and if the hon. Gentleman pressed his motion to a division, he (Sir R. Inglis) would certainly vote against it.

§ Mr. Hume
said, he thought the difficulties which had been thrown in the way of obtaining the register were highly culpable. He never saw a practised lawyer give evidence in so discreditable a manner. Now that the register was obtained, means must be adopted for placing it in the hands of the electors. It appeared to him to be absolutely necessary, that the register should be printed. The hon. Member had proposed, that it should be printed at the expense of the House, and doubtless there were one or two examples of that course. As chairman of the committee with respect to the printing of local papers, he thought a document of this nature should be allowed to be printed at the expense of the parties. He held in his hand the list of the electors of Lincoln, which had been laid on the Table of the House upon motion, which had been printed at the expense of the parties; and he had also a statement of the expense of that printing, from which it appeared, that the expense of printing a sufficient number of the returns for the electors of Hertford would be 146l. He thought if this document was to be printed, it ought to be done at the expense of the parties who asked for it. He hoped, therefore, that his hon. Friend would not press his motion to a division, because if he did, he could not support him. At the same time, he must say, that he thought there ought to be some remedy for the abuse.

§ Mr. T. Duncombe
said, after what had been stated by hon. Members he would not press the motion.

§ Mr. Hume
presumed, that the parties might print the document at their own expense.

§ Viscount Howick
said, that he thought it would be unjust to the electors, that they should be called on to bear the expense of having a document of this kind printed, which ought to be done at the expense of the county. An act ought, in his opinion, to be passed without further delay, by which it should be obligatory on the clerk of the peace of every connty to provide a register, at an expense of 2s. or 3s. for every person who might demand one; and that for every delay which the clerk of the peace might be guilty of in furnishing the required copy, a penalty of 5l. or 10l. should be imposed. That, he thought, would provide a remedy in such cases as the present.