§ MR. BRADLAUGHI beg to ask the Attorney General whether any, 210 and what, criminal proceedings, and against whom, have been instituted by the Director of Public Prosecutions, in the matter of the Yorkshire Provident Association, pursuant to the Order of this House of 23rd July, 1889?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir R. WEBSTER,) Isle of WightIn answer to the hon. Member's question, I have to state that under my directions, after I had carefully considered the whole case, the Director of Public Prosecutions last autumn instituted criminal proceedings against certain directors of the Yorkshire Provident Association—namely, against Andrew Watson, Richard Martin, and Joseph Holinrake—for conspiracy in connection with the statement of accounts for 1886 and 1887, and against Andrew Watson, John Hartley, and J. H. Riley in respect of the statement of accounts for the years 1887 and 1888. All these persons were committed for trial last December, and the Grand Jury returned a true bill against all of them, but upon the application of the defendants the trial was postponed until the Leeds Assizes, which begin upon the 15th of next month.