§ MR. MACLURE (Lancashire, S.E., Stretford)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he has received from the Clerk of the Peace for the County of Lancaster copies of resolutions passed by the Justices in three special Sessions recently held, expressing the Justices' regret at the cancellation of the Minute of 1871, a Minute acted upon by all previous Chancellors of the Duchy; whether 547 he will publish the Return supplied to him as regards all other counties, particularly those counties where the Lords Lieutenant are of his political opinion; and whether he is aware that the last requisition forwarded to the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Lancaster from a Local Board popularly elected contained a recommendation for the appointment of five Justices—namely, three Conservatives, one Liberal Unionist, and one supporter of the present Government, being, in their opinion, the most suitable persons to be appointed Justices in a district containing the largest ratepayers in and outside the City of Manchester?
§ *THE CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER (Mr. BRYCE,) Aberdeen, S.I have received a copy of a resolution passed by the Justices of the Lonsdale Hundred, expressing such regret as is indicated in the question. It is material to an estimate of the value of this resolution to observe that in the Lonsdale Hundred there appear to be, in all, 103 Magistrates entitled to attend Quarter Sessions, of whom only four seem to belong to the Party which has complained of being practically excluded from the Bench, and that, as I am informed, no one of those four was present when the resolution was passed, no notice having been given on the agenda paper that any such resolution was to be brought forward. I have also received a copy of a resolution from the Justices of the Hundreds of Amounderness, Blackburn, and Ley-land, not mentioning the Minute of 1871, but deprecating any change which may have the effect of introducing political bias into the local administration of justice, a view in which I heartily concur, and a result which any action I may take will be directed to prevent. No other resolution to the purport mentioned in the question has been received by me. No Return has been asked for or supplied to mo regarding other counties; nor have I anything to do with the appointment of Magistrates in any county except Lancashire. I am not aware of any such requisition as is mentioned in the third paragraph of the question, but probably the hon. Member refers to a Memorial which appears, from a copy forwarded some months ago to me, to have been sent to 548 the Lord Lieutenant by the Local Board of Withington, asking for the appointment of seven gentlemen named in it as being persons "eligible and suitable to be placed upon the County Bench." Six of these gentlemen were themselves members of the Local Board which recommended them. I am informed that one of the seven is a Liberal and the other six Conservatives, three being Chairmen of local Conservative Associations. Three of these six were not elected members of the Board, but had been co-opted by the majority of the Board.
MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)May I ask from what source the right hon. Gentleman obtained knowledge of the political opinions of the four, and from what source his knowledge of the remaining 103?
§ MR. BRYCEThe source from which I obtained my knowledge of the four was a Return furnished to me through the Clerk of the Peace for the County of Lancaster.
§ MR. BRYCEThe 103 represents the total, as far as I can ascertain, at present on the roll of Justices for the Hundred of Lonsdale.
§ MR. TOMLINSON (Preston)I wish to know whether, in dividing the Magistrates according to their political colour, the right hon. Gentleman has had regard to the time at which they were appointed or the present time; and whether he includes in the 103 any who at the time they were appointed belonged to the Party to which the right hon. Gentleman belongs, and who may perhaps have changed their opinions?
§ MR. BRYCEIt must be obvious that my answer can only refer to the political opinions now professed by those gentlemen.
§ MR. MACLUREHas the right hon. Gentleman received any intimation from the Clerk of the Peace with regard to a meeting of the Salford Sessions?
§ MR. BRYCEYes, Sir; I received a resolution, but it did not express any regret at the cancellation of the Minute of 1871, which is the point of the question.
§ MR. MACLUREThen I beg to give notice that I shall take an opportunity 549 of calling attention to the subject, because the resolution did contain such an expression of regret.