§ MR. CALLANasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to the fact that no less than one-half of the Judges of the Superior Courts of Law in Scotland, including the Eight honourable the Lord President of the Court of Session, and five other Lords Justices—viz.: Lord Curriehill, Lord Adam, Lord Deas, Lord Rutherford Clark, and Lord Gifford, are Extraordinary Directors of Banking Companies in Scotland, and are advertised as such in the public newspapers; and, whether, in view of the recent conviction of Scotch bank directors for fraudulent practices, the occupation of such positions by the Judges meets with the approval of the Government?
MR. ASSHETON CROSSSir, if the office of extraordinary director had anything to do with the management of the bank, I should be inclined to agree with the suggestion conveyed in the Question; but I am told that the Charters under which the extraordinary directors are appointed make it distinctly understood that they have nothing whatever to do with the management of the bank, that they are not entitled to interfere in any way, and that they receive no emoluments; and, therefore, the case appears to me to stand on very much the same footing as that of the English Judges, many of whom give their names to insurance companies of high standing.