§ MR. ANDERSONasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, If it be the fact that the Lord Chancellor lately appointed his private secretary a Master in Lunacy with a salary of £2,000 a-year; if it be the fact that the duty of a Master in Lunacy involves directing juries on some of the most difficult and delicate trials, such as those de Lunatico inquirendo, in which great experience, judgment, and knowledge of Law are required; and, if it be the fact that the gentleman appointed, although a Barrister, is not a practising Barrister, and has no special experience to qualify him for the post?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, the gentleman appointed by the Lord Chancellor to succeed Mr. Barlow as Master in Lunacy is Mr. Henry Graham, who for six years has filled the office, not of Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor, but of Principal Secretary in the Lord Chancellor's Department. I have been requested by the Lord Chancellor to say that the office which Mr. Graham has thus vacated is one the holder of which must not only be a lawyer, but a lawyer of learning, accomplishment, and judgment. His duties and experience are of the most varied kind, and he is in constant communication with the different Departments of the Law, including the Department of Lunacy. By no one have the duties of this office been more ably and efficiently executed than by Mr. Graham. Mr. Graham was called to the Bar in 1868. At the time of his appointment as Principal Secretary he was in practice at the Assizes and Sessions; but his practice was, as is usual, put in abeyance upon his appointment. When Mr. Barlow resigned the Mastership in Lunacy, the Lord Chancellor, after offering the office to two members of the Bar, whose services he would have been glad to secure, conferred it upon Mr. Graham, and he did so merely because he considered that there was no one by whom the office was likely to be accepted who would more efficiently discharge its duties. These duties are 680 mainly administrative. There are occasionally contested inquiries before a jury into sanity, over which one of the Masters in Lunacy presides. They are comparatively rare, and have not averaged two a-year since the Act of 1861. The Lord Chancellor considers that the "experience, judgment, and knowledge" of Mr. Graham are fully equal to the holding of these inquiries, and to the performing every other duty of the office.