HC Deb 30 June 1890 vol 346 cc340-4

As amended considered.

A Clause (Prohibition of Disqualified persons from Voting,)—(The Lord Advocate,)—brought up, and read the first time.

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause be now read a second time."

(5.2.) MR. CALDWELL (Glasgow, St. Rollox)

With regard to this Amendment, I wish simply to ask a question. According to Sub-section 3, if the Provost of a town or the Convener of a county is guilty of a corrupt practice he loses the office of Justice of the Peace. I wish to ask whether he will still remain Provost or Convener? If the offence is sufficient to justify his being removed from the Commission of the Peace, it surely should be sufficient to remove him from the position of Chief Magistrate or Convener.

(5.3.) THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. P. B. ROBERTSON,) Bute

In the case of a Lord Provost, if he is unseated ho ceases to be an Alderman or Councillor, and therefore vacates his seat as Provost. The same thing applies to the Convener of a county.

Question put, and agreed to.

Clause added.

Clause (Hearing of person before he is found guilty of corrupt or illegal practice, and incapacity of person found guilty,)—The Lord Advocate,)—brought up, and read the first and second time.

(5.5.) MR. CALDWELL

The Lord Advocate will notice that a person who is not a candidate may be Provost or Convener. That being so, if he is guilty of corrupt practices, ho will be deprived of the Commission of the Peace, but will still remain Provost or Convener. I beg to move, in line 36, to leave out "by which" and insert "that." The clause as it stands provides that if it appears to the Election Court by which any licensed person is convicted of the offence of bribery or treating— That such offence was committed on his licensed premises, the Court shall direct such conviction to he entered in the proper register of licences. This is taken from the English Act, and is quite proper from an English point of view; but in Scotland it is the individual who is licensed and not the premises. That being so, it is always a matter of inquiry on the part of the Justices what is the character of an applicant for a licence. If the applicant has been guilty, say, of an assault outside his premises, the Justices take that into consideration in reference to his application. In this particular case it can make no great difference whether the offence is committed on the licensed premises or not. If my Amendment be agreed to, I shall propose, subsequently, the omission of the words "that such offence was committed on his licensed premises." The effect of this would be that the fact of a man having, been convicted of the offence of bribery would be entered upon his certificate and considered by the Justices when they came to deal with the question of his licence. If a man has been guilty of bribery, whether on his premises or not, that fact ought surely to be made known to the Justices who have to deal with his licence. In Scotland licences are repeatedly refused on the ground that offences have been committed off the applicant's premises.

Amendment proposed, in line 36 of the Clause, to leave out the words "by which," and insert the word "that,"—{Mr. Caldwell,)—instead thereof.

Question proposed, "That the words 'by which' stand part of the Clause."

MR. J. P. B. ROBERTSON

The common ground upon which hon. Gentlemen opposite and the Government have proceeded is to make this Bill simply an adaptation to municipal elections of the law of bribery and illegal practices which prevails as to Parliamentary elections. That is our definite object, and accordingly I must decline, even in a comparatively small matter, to enlarge the law or to introduce any new disqualification in the case of municipal elections, which does not apply to Parliamentary elections. I do so on the ground that the intention is to assimilate the law in the case of municipal with that of Parliamentary elections; and if I were to accept such an Amendment as this, it would make alterations in the law and open the door wide to all sorts of proposals which wore not made in the Grand Committee, where it was explained that the sole desire was to assimilate the law.

Question put, and agreed to.

Clause added.

Amendments made.

MR. CALDWELL

I beg to move, pro formâ, the omission of "his," in Clause 10, page 5, line 15, and the insertion thereof of "the." Under Clause 10 there are two offences, which, unless they are committed with the knowledge of the candidate, shall not void the election; but by Clause 12 it is provided that, where an illegal practice has been Committed by a candidate or his agent, the election is to be void. The two cases under Clause 10, in which the fault of the agent shall not cause the election to be void, are— If any person votes or induces or procures any person to vote at an election, knowing that he or such person is prohibited, whether by this or any other Act, from voting at such election, he shall be guilty of an illegal practice. And then— Any person who, before, or during an election, knowingly publishes a false statement of the withdrawal of a candidate at such election, for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of another candidate, shall be guilty of an illegal practice. Then the clause goes on— Provided that a candidate shall not be liable, nor shall his election be voided, for any illegal practice under this section committed without his knowledge and consent. I propose by this and the next Amendment to add after "consent," "of himself or of his agent." If you do not introduce these words, the effect will be that, under Clause 12, the election may be voided on minor illegal practices, whereas, under Clause 10, the election would only be voided if the major illegal practices were committed with the knowledge of the candidate.

Amendment proposed, in page 5, line 15, to leave out the word "his," and insert the word "the,"—(Mr. Caldwell,')—instead thereof.

Question, "That the word 'his' stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.

Other Amendments made.

MR. CALDWELL

On Clause 20, I have au Amendment on the Paper to insert, after "premises,' in line 5, the words— The premises of any public elementary school in receipt of an annual Parliamentary grant, or any part of such premises. I do not wish to persevere with the Amendment, and will only say I think it is very important that the School Board should not have power to grant the use of a State-aided school for the purpose of a Committee Room of one political Party. If the Amendment I have placed on the Paper were adopted, public meetings could not be held in public schools. That, of course, is not my object; because, in many places, the public school is the only place where a meeting can be held. But it is one thing to hold a public meeting in a State-aided school and another thing to convert such a school into a private Committee Room. It would save a great deal of heart-burning if we declared that a school may be used for the purpose of public meetings at which all the ratepayers are present, and yet not used as the Committee Room of any particular candidate.

MR. J. P. B. ROBERTSON

I will consider the point.

Amendment proposed, In Clause 41, page 22, at the end of line 39, insert, "Provided that where the police assessment which can be levied in any burgh is limited, an addition to that assessment may be levied for the purpose of raising the sum required to pay such expenses."—(The Lord Advocate.)

Question, "That those words be there inserted," put, and agreed to.

MR. J. P. B. ROBERTSON

This Bill has the support of both sides of the House, and, therefore, I beg to move that it be now read the third time.

Motion made, and Question, "That this Bill be read the third time,"—(The Lord Advocate,)—put, and agreed to.

Bill read the third time, and passed.