§ DR. TANNER (Cork Co., Mid)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it is true that, in the town of Poole, there are 23 magistrates, and only 13 policemen; whether the present Lord Chancellor made five magistrates in 1886, of whom four were Tories, and one a Liberal; whether the town of Wrexham has no separate police force, but are supplied by the county with 15 policemen; whether there are at present 29 magistrates on the Borough Commission, and that two months ago there were 30; whether the present Lord Chancellor, in 1885, added four to the list; whether the Government intend making any further magis- 60 terial appointments in the above-mentioned towns; and, what was the reason for appointing so many'?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.), in reply, said, there were 31 gentlemen whose names appeared on the Commission of the Peace for the Borough of Poole. Of these, five were added by the present Lord Chancellor in December, 1885. It was said that four of these were Conservatives and one a Liberal. There were 14 policemen in Poole. There were now 29 magistrates in the Borough of Wrexham. The present Lord Chancellor added four names to the Commission in February, 1886, and the late Lord Chancellor added three more in July last. It had not been shown to the Lord Chancellor that in either of these boroughs additional Justices were required at the present time. The last appointments were made because, in the judgment of the Lord Chancellor, the state of the respective Benches rendered them desirable. He had no information as to the number of policemen in Wrexham; but he believed there was no separate borough police.