§ MR. CONYBEARE (Cornwall, Camborne)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to a letter sent by the Lord Chancellor to the Town Clerk of West Ham, enclosing a list of gentlemen whose names, his Lordship says, have been submitted to him to form the new Borough Bench of Magistrates; by whom was such list submitted to the Lord Chancellor; and, whether, of the 14 names enclosed, only three are those of Liberals, and seven only those of residents in the borough?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.), in reply, said, it was not a fact that only three of the 14 gentlemen whose names were submitted were Liberals. All the gentlemen were the occupiers of houses, warehouses, or other property in the Borough. There was no reason to suppose that politics had anything to do with the appointments made. It was not the practice of the Lord Chancellor to disclose the name of his informant in such matters.