§ MR. BIGGAR (Cavan, W.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If Mr. Patrick Brady, a candidate for a Division of the Union of 1269 Cootehill, served a notice on the clerk of the Union, requesting him to call upon persons claiming extra votes to produce documentary proof of rental, & c, in support of claims; whether, at a former election, extra votes were allowed to Isabella Johnston and Edward Smith, though their abatements were only temporary; and, whether, at the coming election, Robert Graham, ex-clerk, will be retained by the Local Government Board as Returning Officer, notwithstanding the protests of the majority of the elected Guardians?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said: The returning officer did receive the notice referred to, and an extra vote was allowed to Isabella Johnston and Edward Smith on their declaration before a Justice of the Peace showing their respective ratings. It is not the fact that Mr. Robert Graham, ex-clerk of the Union, has been retained as Returning Officer.