§ MR. J. KEIR HARDIE (West Ham, S.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that on 1st April a meeting of the Vestry of Bootle was held to elect overseers of the poor, at which four ratepayers were duly elected at the meeting; whether he is also aware that the magistrates refused to accept the names so put forward, and elected four others which had not been before the Vestry meetings; whether this was a contravention of the Local Government Act; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?
§ MR. SHAW LEFEVREThe only information I have on this subject is contained in the letter which my hon. Friend has been good enough to send me. It rests with the magistrates to appoint the overseers, and they are under no legal obligation to elect persons nominated by the Vestry. Under the Local Government Act, the power of appointing overseers in urban parishes may be transferred to the Urban District Council on their application.