§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ MR. RATHBONE,in rising to move that the Bill be now read a second time, said, its object was to provide that a revising barrister should not strike a man's name off the register merely for non-attendance unless there was a primâ facie ground for making objection. To show the necessity of the Bill he would refer to instances of wholesale objection. In one case there were 8,000 objections, of which only 2,000 could be sustained; in whole streets, in certain districts, every 666 name beginning with. "Mac" or with "O'," which were presumed to be Scotch or Irish voters, had been objected to. Again, in a subsequent revision, out of 3,858 objections, only 158 were struck off on merits, and 2,867 votes were disallowed simply for non-attendance. If the Government Bill dealt with this evil satisfactorily, this Bill would not be proceeded with, and he would, therefore, put off the Committee until the Government Bill was produced.
§ Motion agreed to.
§ Bill read a second time, and committed for Tuesday 18th March.