§ MR. HENRY H. FOWLER (Wolverhampton, E.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether it is correct that the County Court Judge for Circuit No. 5 has announced his intention of resigning his office; and, whether, having regard to the fact that the number of sittings of this Court, holden before the Judge, were 78 in the last year, steps will be taken to annex Circuit 5 to one of the other Lancashire Circuits?
§ * THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. W. H. SMITH,) Strand, WestminsterThe Judge has not communicated to the Lord Chancellor any intention of resigning, and it would be premature to say more than that careful consideration will be given whether, on the occurrence of a vacancy, a concentration of the County Courts in Lancashire would be practicable and consistent with the public interest. The districts in question are very populous and important, and it may be anticipated that provision will have to be made for more frequent sittings in the Courts.