§ MR. ASHBURYasked Mr. Attorney General, Whether his attention has been directed to the fact that Mr. Serjeant Atkinson, Judge of the Leeds County Court, in such Court, in the month of August 1877, adjudicated upon a Friendly Society dispute, and whether such adjudication was not a contravention of the following provision of the twenty-second Clause of the "Friendly Societies Act, 1875," viz. that disputes shall be decided in manner directed by the rules of the society, and the decision so made shall be binding and conclusive on all parties without appeal, and shall not be removable into any Court of Law; and, whether section thirty of the said recited Act can be made to apply to affiliated orders, such as the Ancient Order of Romans, the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order of Foresters, such not being societies receiving "contributions at a greater distance than ten miles from the registered office of the society by means of collectors?"
The ATTORNEY GENERALSir, I am always anxious to oblige hon. Members who ask me Questions when I can fairly do so. With reference to the first part of the Question of my hon. Friend, I do not think it would be right for me to return a reply, for I do not feel myself at liberty to express any opinion upon the judicial action of a learned Judge. If the learned Judge entertained a case which he had no jurisdiction to deal with, the parties aggrieved have an appropriate remedy to which they can resort. As to the second part of the Question, it is directed, I find, to obtain in another way the information sought for by the first Question; and therefore, I regret to say, I cannot answer it. I may, however, refer my hon. Friend to section 22 of the Act, Sub-section D.