§ MR. PULESTONasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether he has issued a Circular to overseers embodying new instructions as to the registration and qualification of voters; if so, whether he can explain its effect to the House; and, whether he will lay a Copy of it, with such correspondence as may have led to it, upon the Table of the House?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTSir, after the passing of the Act of 1878, which gave to all persons occupying parts of dwelling-houses a right to be upon the register, my Predecessor (Sir R. Assheton Cross) sent a Circular to the vestry clerks of the Metropolis, calling upon them for explanations with reference to the allegation that they were going to avoid giving effect to the provision of the Act of Parliament. Since that time there has been great complaints that the persons referred to were not put upon the register, and those complaints appear to be well 1264 founded, because in London the number of those persons enjoying the privilege of the franchise is much smaller in proportion to the population than it is in any other part of the Kingdom. Therefore, following the example set by my Predecessor, I have directed another Circular to be issued, calling attention to the clauses of the Act, and requesting that steps may be taken by the different vestry clerks and overseers to put on the list of voters all persons occupying separately any part of a house. I hope the effect will be that many thousands of persons will get the votes to which they are entitled under the Act.
In reply to Mr. PULESTON and Sir JOSEPH M'KENNA,
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTsaid, the Circular, at present, had only been issued to the authorities of the Metropolis, because it was from the Metropolis complaints had been received, it being the worst example in the country in that respect; but there would be no objection to address it to the overseers of the country generally.