§ DR. MACGREGOR (Inverness-shire)I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether he will draw the attention of the Lord Chancellor to the facts that in Perthshire, out of 300 Justices of the Peace, only some 15 belong to the Liberal Party; and whether he will extend the proposed inquiry on the subject of the appointment of Magistrates to Scotland?
§ SIR G. TREVELYANI have no means of knowing the proportion of Magistrates in Perthshire belonging to the different Parties. If a Memorial from responsible persons in Perthshire or elsewhere is sent me, which appears proper in all respects to lay before the Lord Chancellor, I shall lay it; but such Memorials can be communicated by letter without the necessity for asking a question in the House of Commons. I may say that some Members of the House, and gentlemen outside, were under a mistaken impression in thinking that a Return had been given by the Home Office giving the politics of Justices of the Peace. The Return gives only the professions and callings of the Justices and the dates of their appointments, and I shall move a like Return for Scotland.
§ MR. BARTLEY (Islington, N.)Do you mean their professions of politics?