§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)I beg to ask the First. Lord of the Treasury whether Lord Dufferin, then Chancellor of the Duchy in the Ministry of the right hon. Gentleman, in formerly ac- 1502 quainting the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire in April, 1870, with the new arrangement for the appointment of County Magistrates, and in stating that it is intended by Her Majesty's Government that this arrangement should be a permanent one so far as it is in their power to render it so, acted on his own responsibility alone, or with the sanction and approval of the Cabinet or the Prime Minister, or both?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONEAll the inquiries that we are able to make at present have been made, but we cannot trace the facts with regard to this question. I myself may, when I get into the country, have the means of ascertaining whether Lord Dufferin's measure in 1870 was referred to the Cabinet or not. I have not the least doubt that it came under my own eyes, and that I am responsible for it. Further than that I cannot go at present.