§ MR. W. J. CORBETasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If, as President of the Local Government Board in Ireland, he will take steps to secure that, in the forthcoming Poor Law elections, the returning 858 officers shall be required to perform their duties in an impartial manner; whether he will direct them either to furnish copies of the lists of electors in full to the candidates or their agents on receiving reasonable payment for same, or else permit them to copy the lists during office hours; and, as the claims to vote lodged by owners of property contain long and complicated details necessarily requiring time to examine in order to ascertain their correctness, whether he will direct the returning officers to give facilities for the inspection of same by the candidates and their agents before the scrutiny of votes is held?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANThe Local Government Board have no reason to apprehend that the Returning Officers will not discharge their duties at the coming elections in an impartial manner, and they see no necessity to make special regulations to govern their proceedings, or to amend the General Order on the subject, which has been in force for many years. The Local Government Board have recently re-issued to Returning Officers their instructions as to the mode in which these elections are to be conducted.
§ MR. W. J. CORBETasked whether it was not a fact that during the past three or four years numerous complaints were made against the Returning Officers in the Unions of Baltinglass, Rathdrum, and Shillelagh by popular candidates, and that upon investigation the elections of several Conservative candidates were declared void; and whether the right hon. Gentleman considered that a satisfactory state of things to which he would give his sanction?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANI am aware that there have been numerous complaints. What I say is that there is no need for new regulations, and the old regulations, if properly carried out, are sufficient; and, by way of stimulating the memory of the Returning Officers, the Local Government Board have re-issued those regulations.