§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether John Cooper, formerly overseer of Great Yarmouth, who was committed on the 12th of April, 1866, to three months' imprisonment with hard labour by the Yarmouth Justices for misappropriating upwards of £1,100 of parish funds, remained at large until the 5th of February, 1888, and whether he is now treated as a first class misdemeanant, as stated in The Yarmouth Mercury; and, whether this is the same person who prominently figures in the Yarmouth Bribery Report of 1886 as the illegal agent of the Tory Party?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. STUART-WORTLEY) (Sheffield, Hallam)(who replied) said: Yes, Sir; this man remained at large during the time stated in the Question, the reason being that he absconded from Yarmouth, and the police, in spite of every effort, were unable to ascertain his whereabouts. The prisoner was committed to prison for three months for non-payment of moneys due from him as overseer. He is treated under the Rules for debtors, to which class he properly belongs. He is the same person who is mentioned in the Yarmouth Bribery Report of 1866, not 1886.