§ The House went into Committee on this Bill.
§ On the 1st Clause being put.
§ CAPTAIN PECHELLreprobated the practice of holding special or petty sessions in public-houses, and hoped that the hon. the Attorney General would direct his attention to the subject.
The ATTORNEY GENERALsaid, that if it were the wish of the House that petty sessions should not be held in public-houses he would insert a clause to that effect in the Bill. At present he left a discretionary power with the magistrates on that subject.
§ CAPTAIN PECHELLcontended, that it was most improper to make use of inns and public-houses for such purposes. The practice, however, was very general. There were 724 petty sesssions held in England, and 358 of these were held in taverns. The publicans charged nothing for the use of the rooms, because they received a sufficient profit upon the wine and grog drunk upon the premises by the parties litigant. There were thirty-six places where petty sessions were held in magistrates' clerks' offices, and in some few localities the workhouse, the gaol, and the house of correction, were all used for the purpose. It sometimes happened that the magistrates preferred sitting in the inn rather than the town-hall, and that they dined at the place where they presided. He would not permit drinking-rooms to be resorted to by the justices except in cases of necessity; and he was happy to find the right hon. Gentleman the Attorney General willing to meet the views of the House on this important subject. The hon. Gentleman concluded by moving the following clause:—
And be it enacted, That after the passing of this Act, it shall not be lawful for any justices of the peace in England to hold any petty or special sessions of the peace in any house licensed for the sale of excisable liquors, or, after a session-house shall have been provided under the powers hereinbefore contained, elsewhere than in such session-house, except in cases of urgent necessity, the 157 cause of which shall be noted in the minutes of proceedings.
The ATTORNEY GENERALsaid, the Bill was framed with the express intention of meeting the objection to holding the petty sessions in public-houses. It gave the magistrates the authority of appointing places, and, being disposed to leave it to their discretion, he could not consent to the clause of the hon. and gallant Member.
§ SIR R. PRICEhad a decided objection to the holding of sessions in public-houses; but in some districts it was found exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to find any other place equally convenient. He hoped the hon. and gallant Gentleman would not press his clause.
MR. HODGESexpressed his unwillingness to hold petty sessions in public-houses; and as the Bill discountenanced the practice, he hoped the hon. and gallant Member would withdraw it.
§ CAPTAIN PECHELLsaid, there was no one to whom he would more willingly defer than the hon. Member for Kent; but he found that in that county out of seventeen, eleven petty sessions were held in public-houses, and two in the magistrates' office, which was still worse, as more likely to exclude the public. He would, however, withdraw the clause at the request of so many hon. Gentlemen.
§ The clause was withdrawn, and the Bill passed through Committee, and reported.
§ House adjourned at a quarter before One o'clock till Monday next.