HC Deb 10 May 1888 vol 325 cc1828-31

(Mr. Ritchie, Mr. William Henry Smith, Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Secretary Matthews, Mr. Long.)

[BILL 253.] CONSIDERATION.

Bill, as amended, considered.

On the Motion of Mr. ATTORNEY GENERAL, the following Clause agreed to, and added to the Bill after Clause 8:— (Perpetuation with amendments of 49 and 50 Vic. c. 42, and repeal of 6 and 7 Vic. c. 18, s. 59.) (1.) Section four of the 'Revising Barristers Act, 1886,' is hereby repealed, and that Act, as amended by this Act, shall be perpetual. (2.) So long as a separate commission of assize is issued for the county of Surrey, that county shall be deemed to be a circuit within the meaning of section two, as well as of section one, of 'The Revising Barristers Act 1886.' (3.) An application to appoint an additional barrister under the said Act may be made at any time after the first day of September. (4.) Section fifty-nine of "The Parliamentary Voters' Registration Act, 1843,' is hereby repealed.

On the Motion of Mr. RITCHIE, the following Clause agreed to and added to the Bill:— (Making out of lists and registers in metropolis.) After the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, in every part of the metropolis, and in every part of a parliamentary borough, the whole or greater part of which is situate in the metropolis, the lists and registers of parliamentary voters and of county electors, shall, unless the local authority otherwise direct, be arranged in the same order in which the qualifying premises appear in the rate book for the parish in which those premises are situate, or as nearly thereto as will cause those lists and registers to record the qualifying premises in successive order in the street or other place in which they are situate. For the purpose of this section `metropolis' means the city of London and the parishes and places mentioned in Schedules (A), (B), and (C) of "The Metropolis Management Act, 1885.'

Amendment proposed, In Clause 3, page 3, line 37, at end, add—"(3) Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, where a municipal borough or an urban district is co-extensive with any electoral division or divisions of a Parliamentary county, the lists of voters may, if so directed by the local authority, be made out according to the order in which the qualifying premises appear in the rate book, and section twenty-one of "The Parliamentary and Municipal Registration Act, 1878,' shall apply to such borough or urban district, and where lists of voters are so made out nothing in this Act shall require such part of the county register as consists of these lists to be arranged alphabetically. For the purposes of this section the local authority shall be, in the case of a municipal borough, the town council, and, in the case of an urban district, the district council established under an Act of the present Session of Parliament."—(Mr. Mowbray.)

Question proposed, "That those words be there added."

THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. RITCITIE) (Tower Hamlets, St. George's)

said, he proposed to accept the Amendment subject to the following alterations:—In lines 5 and 6, instead of "the list of voters may, if so directed by the local authority, be made out," &c., he proposed to make the Amendment read, "the list of voters may be directed by the local authority to be made out," &c. He would also propose to omit the last clause of the Amendment.

Amendment, as amended, agreed to.

In answer to Mr. T. M. HEALY,

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir RICHARD WEBSTER) (Isle of Wight)

said, the time for making out the list of voters was extended to the 31st of October.

Amendments made.

Motion made, and Question, "That the Bill be re-committed,"—(Mr. Attorney General,)—put, and agreed to.

Bill considered in Committee.

(In the Committee.)

Mr. J. W. LOWTHER in the Chair.

Clause 8 (Contribution by County Authorities towards the remuneration of revising barristers).

Amendment proposed, In page 6, line 29, at beginning of Clause, insert, "Every barrister appointed to revise any list of voters under The Parliamentary Voters Registration Act, 1843,' shall be paid the sum of two hundred and fifty guineas by way of remuneration to him, and in satisfaction of his travelling and other expenses, and every such barrister, after the termination of his last sitting, shall forward his appointment to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, who shall make an order for the payment of the above sum to every such barrister. The maximum amount to be paid to an additional barrister in pursuance of The Revising Barristers Act, 1886, shall not exceed the amount authorised by this section to be paid to a revising barrister. The sums so paid to a revising barrister or an assistant barrister shall be payable partly out of moneys provided by Parliament and partly by the County Authorities, as hereinafter mentioned."—(Mr. Attorney General.)

Question proposed, "That those words be there inserted."

MR. T. M. HEALY (Longford, N.)

said, that in regard to this question of the revising barristers' expenses, he thought it was important that the hon. and learned Attorney General should give some information to the Committee as to the effect of the scheme. No doubt the work would be much more heavy on the occasion of the first revision than it would be subsequently. He presumed that a time would come when most matters would have been settled; and, therefore, it seemed to him desirable that some provision should be made to enable the Treasury to give its sanction to the payment of a less sum. So far as he could gather, there was no provision in the Bill which would enable the Treasury to pay any less sum than 250 guineas.

SIR RICHARD WEBSTER

said, he believed that the hon. and learned Gentleman was not in the House when he had given an explanation of this matter the other night. He would, therefore, repeat it. The amount hitherto paid to the revising barrister for revising the list was five guineas per day, and, as a matter of fact, the amount received by the several revising barristers was considerably over 250 guineas per annum. It was now arranged that each revising barrister was to receive 250 guineas, one-half of which would be paid by the Treasury and the other half by the County Authorities. So far as the Treasury was concerned, there would be a distinct saving of 75 guineas for each revising barrister. There would be no alteration at all in regard to the appointments, or in connection with the work; it was simply an arrangement in connection with the remuneration and expenses. It was simply turning what had been partly a payment by fees and partly a lump sum into a lump sum.

MR. T. M. HEALY

said, that the maximum sum paid in England was about 2½ times as much as was paid in Ireland.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill reported with an Amendment; as amended, considered.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. RITCHIE) (Tower Hamlets, St. George's)

said, he hoped the House would consent now to read the Bill the third time. It was of importance that it should pass both Houses of Parliament before Whitsuntide. The Amendments made in it were only such as had been arranged to be made, and it was necessary that the Bill should go to the other House as soon as possible. He hoped the House would, therefore, consent to the third reading, which he begged to move.

Motion made, and Question, "That the Bill be now read the third time,"—(Mr. Ritchie,)—put, and agreed to.

Bill read the third time, and passed.