§ MR. J. R. YORKEasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether he has received a memorial from the Licensed Victuallers of Rotherham representing the conduct of the Mayor of that town in declaring at a public 1504 meeting that he intended, together with other borough magistrates, to reduce the number of licenses in the borough; and, whether borough magistrates are entitled to express beforehand their opinions as to the course they intend to pursue on matters on which they have to decide in their magisterial capacity, and on the respective merits of the cases brought before them?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTSir, I took some trouble the other day to explain that a person who occupies the position of Mayor is entirely outside the authority of the Executive Government. I do not think it is very wise in administration to take people to task over whom you have no authority; and, therefore, I must decline to criticize or interfere with the action of the Mayor of Rotherham.