§ Petition of Hugh C. E. Childers, Esq., for inquiring into the circumstances under which the Petition complaining of the Return for the Borough of Pontefract was withdrawn, brought up, and read.
§ MR. BRIGHTsaid, he had been requested to present a petition from Mr. Childers, one of the candidates for the borough of Pontefract at the last election. The petition stated that at the close of the poll the petitioner was in a minority of ten, the numbers being, for Mr. Overend 306, for the petitioner 296. A petition complaining of the return was presented in due course, the recognizances completed, 1255 and no less than sixty-three persons served with Speaker's warrants. The day before the Committee was to have been struck a negotiation took place between the legal agents of the parties, and as it was considered that the scrutiny which the petition demanded would involve the enormous expense of about £5,000, it was agreed to refer the matter to an hon. Gentleman on the other side of the House, who was an official Member of the late Government, and whose decision should be as binding on the parties as if it had been made by a Committee. As a part of the agreement the petition was at once withdrawn. After the petition had been withdrawn, and when steps were being taken to bring the matter before the referee, some difference took place between Mr. Overend and his agent.
§ SIR HENRY WILLOUGHBYsaid, he rose to order. The hon. Member was stating matters seriously affecting the honour of another hon. Member without notice, and in his absence.
§ MR. SPEAKERsaid, he understood the hon. Member was only stating the substance of the petition.
§ MR. BRIGHTcontinued to state that the matter did not go before the referee. It was suggested that the arrangement could not be carried out without incurring the danger of a breach of privilege. At all events, after the petition had been withdrawn, and there was no chance that Mr. Overend's seat would be disturbed, he interposed difficulties to the fulfilment of the contract; and instead of accepting the Chiltern hundreds, he preferred to retain his seat. The allegations contained in this petition were very precise, and if they were true, there was no doubt that the petitioner had been—what should he say?—defrauded, and the borough of Pontefract debarred from its proper representative in that House. He did not know what course the House would think fit to adopt under the circumstances, but if he were permitted to present the petition, he would then take the liberty of moving that it be printed, and that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into and report upon the allegations of Mr. Childers relative to the circumstances under which his petition, complaining of the return of the borough of Pontefract, was withdrawn, and that such Committee be appointed from the general Committee of Selection.
§
Motion made, and Question proposed—
That a Select Committee be appointed to in-
1256
quire into and report upon the allegations contained in the said Petition of Hugh C. E. Childers, Esq.; and that such Committee be chosen by the General Committee of Elections.
§ SIR GEORGE GREYsaid, he thought that the course proposed by the hon. Gentleman was, to say the least, somewhat premature. The hon. Member had presented a petition, the substance of which he had stated. It did not appear, however, that that petition complained of any corrupt compromise, as that the compromise was improperly entered into; but that a compromise having been entered into, and it having been agreed that the petition against the return for Pomfret should be withdrawn, and a scrutiny entered into before a referee, being a Member of this House, the sitting Member had declined, after the petition had been withdrawn, to fulfil his part of the contract, and desired to keep his seat and set aside the reference. Now, he did not know that that was a question of which Parliament could take cognizance; but it certainly involved a serious charge against the honour of a Member of the House. He would suggest, therefore, that the hon. Gentleman should first move that the petition be printed, so that it might be in the hands of hon. Members. He was not aware that any breach of privilege had been committed; but the House could, if it thought fit, make an order that the hon. Member for Pontefract should attend in his place. At all events, he ought to have sufficient notice that such a petition had been presented, and have the opportunity of appearing in his place and answering the charges contained in the petition, which clearly implied that he had not taken the course which a gentleman under such circumstances would feel incumbent on himself to pursue.
§ MR. BRIGHTsaid, he wished to remind the House that from the present state of the Session it would be impossible that anything could be done in this matter unless it were done immediately. In consideration of the special nature of the case, he therefore proposed that a Committee should be appointed. With regard to notice, he might mention that so far back as Friday last notice was given to Mr. Overend that the matter would be brought under the consideration of the House, and on the previous evening a formal communication had been made to his agent of what was intended to be done. He had done what he had undertaken to do in bring- 1257 ing the matter before the House, and as to what course should be adopted he was entirely in the hands of the House.
§ MR. E. P. BOUVERIEsuggested that it was possible to reconcile the two courses proposed. The General Committee of Selection, to which it was proposed by the hon. Member to refer this matter, could not meet before the next day; and therefore he thought despatch would be as well attained if the hon. Gentleman would move to have the petition printed, and give notice of his intention to strike a Committee from both sides of the House, as in the course he proposed to adopt. There had evidently been an attempt to oust the jurisdiction of that House on a question submitted to them respecting a controverted election, and he thought it right that the matter should be investigated. One of the gentlemen implicated in the arrangements was, he believed, a Parliamentary agent, who was on the roll of agents of that House, and was therefore amenable to their authority.
§ COLONEL SYKESsaid, that the petition affected the honour of a Member of the House; consequently it affected by implication the honour of the House itself. It was their duty, therefore, to see whether the accusations contained in the petition were correct or not, and he thought that measures for the purpose should be adopted without delay.
MR. DIGBY SEYMOURthought it would be only fair to the hon. Gentleman referred to, who was a Queen's Counsel in large practice, and at that time on circuit, that the discussion of the question should be postponed until Thursday, to give an opportunity of being present to offer any explanation he thought proper to afford to the House. He thought the House ought not to act hastily in the matter.
SIR GEORGE LEWISsaid, it was in the power of the House to adjourn the debate until the evening sitting, and to order in the meantime that the petition should be printed and be ready to be placed in the hands of hon. Members at 6 o'clock. With regard to referring the petition to the Committee of Selection, he doubted if there were a sufficient number of Members of that Committee at present in London to form a quorum. The only course, therefore, which was now open to his hon. Friend was to give notice of the appointment of a Committee for tomorrow. But he thought that no definitive step ought to 1258 be taken until the hon. and learned Member (Mr. Overend) was able to attend in his place and answer the charges which were made against him.
§ SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFEsaid, he quite concurred in the suggestion of his right hon. Friend. The matter had come upon the House by surprise. The hon. and learned Member for Pontefract, it appeared, was on the northern circuit; but it was possible that he might be in his place to-morrow, and if a Committee was to be appointed he certainly thought that the hon. and learned Member, or some one should be there to represent him, and that the Committee should be constituted in so fair and impartial a manner as to command the confidence and respect of the House.
§ SIR WILLIAM SOMERVILLEsaid, it was true that there was not a quorum of the General Committee of Selection in town at the present moment.
§ MR. BRIGHTobserved that such being the case he would ask leave to withdraw his Motion, with the view of moving the next day that a Committee of seven be appointed to inquire into the allegations of the petition.
§ Motion by leave withdrawn.
MR. LYGONsaid, that the inconvenience of moving the appointment of a Committee the next day would be that if any of the names were objected to there would be no opportunity of substituting others. He did not think that any great harm could arise from allowing the matter to stand over until next Session. That course had been taken with regard to some election petitions, and he did not see any pressing necessity for an immediate investigation in this case.
SIR GEORGE LEWISsaid, that if objection were taken to any name proposed by the hon. Member for Birmingham (Mr. Bright), the House could divide against that name, and upon its rejection it would be open to any hon. Member to substitute another for it; so that no practical difficulty could arise.
§ Petition to lie on the Table and to be printed.
§ MR. BRIGHTsaid, he then wished to give notice that he should the next day move the appointment of a Select Committee to take the allegations contained in the petition into their consideration, and to report thereon.