§ MR. BUCHANAN (Aberdeenshire, E.)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to the recent refusal of the Sheriff of Aberdeenshire to hear Petitions duly presented to him for alteration of polling-places in that county; whether he is aware that these Petitions were substantially unopposed, and the alterations suggested were not to add to the number of polling-places, but to place the booths in more convenient proximity to the bulk of the voters; and whether, inasmuch as 1810 the grounds alleged by the Sheriff for postponement of proceedings were not legal but personal considerations, he will urge on him the obligation of resuming consideration of the Petitions at an early date?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR,) Clackmannan, &c.The Sheriff informs me that the Petitions for an alteration of polling-places have not been refused, but that it was arranged that consideration of them should be delayed until the close of the year, in the expectation that the provisions of the Government Registration Bill might then be known. The Sheriff understands that this was done with the consent of all parties; but if there has been any difference of understanding, the best course would be for the parties again to move in the Petition.