§ MR. D. SULLIVAN (Westmeath, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that it has been decided by the Lord Chief Baron, in a decision at the King's County Assizes at Tullamore some years ago, that contracts for the printing of the Parliamentary Registries should be entered into at Presentment Sessions and precisely in the same way as other Grand Jury contracts; whether he is aware that the Clerk of the Peace of the County of Westmeath has ignored the law on this matter and taken tenders privately in his own office for the registry printing for Westmeath; and whether in view of the complaints made in the County for Meath of a partizan printer tampering with the list of voters sent to him to be printed, he will direct the Clerk of the Peace for Westmeath to comply with the law in future contracts for the printing of the Westmeath Registry?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. MORLEY,) Newcastle-upon-TyneThe Clerk of the Peace of Westmeath informs me he is not aware of any such decision of the Lord 437 Chief Baron as is referred to in the first paragraph. At the Spring Assizes of 1886 the Grand Jury passed a resolution to the effect that the printing of the Parliamentary Voters' Lists should be advertised by the Clerk of the Peace, tenders called for, and the lowest tender accepted. In conformity with this resolution the Clerk of the Peace has since advertised for tenders in all the local newspapers of every shade of politics, and has accepted the lowest tender, the result being that he has seldom had the same printer for two successive years. He has not taken tenders privately in his office for the printing for the county.