§ MR. ERNEST NOELasked the Lord Advocate, Whether it is a fact that out of forty-three justices recently added to the Commission of the Peace for the county of Dumfries, forty are of the: same political party as the Lord Lieutenant, and that of seven justices on the Roll, resident in the town of Dumfries, six are Conservatives; and, will the: Government take steps to have these inequalities redressed?
THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR)The Lord Chancellor, whom I have communicated with as to this: Question, states that he has no information with respect to the politics of gentlemen recommended to him for appointment as county magistrates by Lords Lieutenant, and that he has no information which leads him to suppose that in the case of the county and borough of Dumfries gentlemen are excluded from the Commission of the Peace on account of their politics.