§ MR. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWEN (Kent, Tunbridge)In the absence of the hon. Member for Denbigh, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the recent appointments on the Commission of the Peace in the County of Flint have been made in direct opposition to the recommendation of Her Majesty's Lieutenant for that county; whether there is any precedent for such action by the Lord Chancellor for the time being; and if he will lay any Correspondence which has taken place on the subject upon the Table of the House?
§ MR. ASQUITHThe recent appointments were made on the sole responsibility of the Lord Chancellor. It is true that the Lord Lieutenant was not prepared to recommend some persons whom the Lord Chancellor thought it expedient to appoint. The Lord Chancellor considered that he was acting in strict accordance with the principles laid down by the House of Commons in its Resolution of the 5th of May. There are precedents for the action taken by the Lord Chancellor. The communications which passed between the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Lieutenant were confidential, and cannot, therefore, be laid on the Table.