§
MR. GLYN moved,
That Mr. Speaker do issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown in Ireland to make out a new Writ for the electing of a Burgess to serve in this present Parliament for the Borough of Drogheda, in the room of Benjamin Whitworth, Esquire, whose Election has been determined to be void.
COLONEL TAYLORsaid, that only yesterday the House had ordered the production of the evidence taken during the inquiry into the Drogheda Election. He hoped that pending the production of this evidence the issue of the Writ would be suspended.
THE ATTOENEY GENERALsaid, that the Report of the Judges was before the Government. Under the Act of last Session they were of two kinds. They might be mere ordinary Reports that so and so had been duly elected, or that the election was void, in which cases the Writs would issue almost as a matter of course; and there could be no object in having the evidence printed or in instituting inquiry, inasmuch as the decision of the Judge had already settled the matter. Or they might be special Reports, and with regard to them the Act of last Session enacted that where a Judge made a special Report the House of Commons might make such Order as they might think proper with respect to such special Report. Where the Judges reported specially that there was reason to believe that corrupt practices had extensively prevailed, he apprehended that it would generally be proper that an Address to the Crown should be moved for, with a view to the issue of a Commission. The special Report of the Judge in the Drogheda case 152 was not a Report of this kind. At the same time it was, no doubt, a special Report, and the House would be entitled to take such a course as it thought fit. Under these circumstances, he thought there was sufficient ground for asking his hon. Friend to postpone the issue of the Writ for a few days, in order that the House might have before it the evidence taken by the Judge.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.