§ MR. FAWCETT, in moving for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the Law relating to the Expenses of Returning Officers at Elections, said, the measure had been amply discussed last Session, when there had been four or five divisions upon it. The House and the country would, therefore, be well acquainted with his proposal, which was simply to throw the necessary expenses of elections—and only the necessary expenses—upon the borough or the county rates. Provision had been made in the Bill for cases in which a county was 151 divided, and adequate security would also be provided against unnecessary and vexatious contests. Such a measure would, in his opinion, have this great advantage—it would exert some influence in checking what was no doubt the opprobrium of our representative system—the great, and he feared, the increasing expenses of election contests.
§ Motion agreed to.
§ Bill to amend the Law relating to the Expenses of Returning Officers at Elections, ordered to be brought in by Mr. FAWCETT, Mr. BAINES, and Mr. M'LAREN.
§ Bill presented, and read the first time. [Bill 7.]