HC Deb 29 December 1893 vol 20 cc436-7
MR. A. C. MORTON (Peterborough)

I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that in the warrant taken out by the Relieving Officer to the Bramley Union for the arrest of Mr. Harrabin, it was stated that— You are hereby commanded to bring the defendant (Harrabin) before the Court forthwith; that the warrant was taken out on the 21st of November; and that, on the 5th of December, on which date the Mayor of Leeds put the case down for hearing, the Guardians did not, appear either by their clerk or anyone else, although their officer had held the warrant for a fortnight without attempting to execute it; whether the intention in taking-out the warrant was not to execute it but to frighten Mr. Harrabin into paying or agreeing to pay what he, the clerk to the Guardians, knew to be under the circumstances an illegal demand; whether be is also aware that, the Mayor of Leeds then stated in withdrawing the warrant, I certainly should not have issued it if all the facts had been fully stated to me; and whether the Local Government Board propose to take any steps to prevent in the future such a use of the law?

THE SECRETARY TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Sir W. FOSTER,) Derby, Ilkeston

The warrant taken out by the Relieving Officer in the case referred to contained the words mentioned, and the facts are, the Local Government Board believe, as stated in the second paragraph of the question. The Board have no evidence that the intention in taking out the warrant was for the purpose of frightening Mr. Harrabin into paying what the clerk to the Guardians knew to be, under the circumstances, au illegal demand. On the contrary, the contention of the clerk to the Guardians is that the course which was taken by the Guardians and their officers was believed to be in the interests of both the husband and the wife. The Mayor, the Board are informed, used the words stated in the question when the warrant was withdrawn. The communications which have been received from the Mayor and the clerk to the Guardians with reference to this case number some 70 or 80 pages, and it is very difficult, in replying to particular questions in a complicated case of this character, to convey a fair impression of all the facts. If it is desired that the facts should be fully before the House, and my hon. Friend moves for a copy of the correspondence, the Board would not object, although for reasons of which he will be well aware the Board would not themselves propose this course. With regard to the concluding question, the matter is not one in which the Local Government Board have any jurisdiction, but they have communicated with the clerk to the Guardians, informing him that in their opinion a warrant should only be taken out in a case where it is intended that the warrant should be executed, and, further, that the execution of the warrant should not be dependent on the payment of costs.