§ MR. MELLYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether Her Majesty's Government have any intention of bringing in a Bill to extend the jurisdiction of Stipendiary Magistrates in districts where the increase of population demands such extension, and to charge the salaries and cost of Stipendiary Magistrates in the provinces, after deduction of fees and fines, upon the Consolidated Fund, as in the case of the London Police Courts, thus relieving the provincial ratepayer from burdens not borne by the ratepayers of the metropolis?
MR. BRUCEsaid, in reply, that he was aware of the great difficulty and expense the constituents of the hon. Member had encountered in endeavouring to extend the area of the stipendiary magistrates' jurisdiction, and in consequence he had paid special attention to the subject. He thought it would be possible to bring in a Bill enabling boundaries to be extended without exposing ratepayers to the expense now imposed upon them. He would, if time permitted, introduce such a Bill; but he could not promise to include in it a proposal to charge the expense of stipendiary magistrates in the country upon the Consolidated Fund.