§ *MR. SNAPE (Lancashire, S. E., Heywood)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he is aware that the sum of £6. 6s. is charged to County Justices qualifying in the County Palatine of Lancaster, whilst a charge of £2 only is made to Justices qualifying in the County of Suffolk; (2) whether most of this excess in Lanashire is owing to a charge of £3. 8s. 6d. being made for the writ of dedimus potestatem, of which one moiety goes to the Duchy of Lancaster and the other to the Cursitor; (3) whether he can inform the House who is the Cursitor, by whom appointed, and on what grounds he receives half the charge for the writ of dedimus; and (4) whether he will use his influence to pre 556 vent this charge of £3. 8s. 6d. being made by the Duchy and the Cursitor, so that the qualifying charge in Lancashire may be reduced to that made in Suffolk?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARMENT (Mr. H. H. ASQUITH,) Fife, E.I am informed by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster that, in his opinion, there is no sufficient reason why the practice of taking out the writ of dedimus potestatem by County Magistrates upon their appointment should continue in Lancashire. The discontinuance of the practice will, no doubt, have the effect of reducing the expense to the persons appointed to be Justices. The question what is the proper fee to be fixed as payable upon appointment is now under the consideration of my noble Friend.
§ MR. SNAPEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether the Mayor of a Borough is charged any fee for qualifying to sit upon a Borough Bench; (2) whether he is aware that it has been decided by the Standing Joint Committee of Lancashire that a charge of One Guinea, to go to the County Funds, shall be made to Mayors and Chairmen of District Councils qualifying to sit, by virtue of their office and during its tenure, upon the County Bench; (3) whether such charge is legal; and (4) whether he will take such steps as shall lead to the abolition of the charge?
§ MR. ASQUITHI have no official information on the subject of the first paragraph, but I believe that it is not the custom for the Mayor of a Borough to pay a fee for qualifying to act. The fee of £1. 1s. is charged in Lancashire to every Justice who qualifies at Quarter Sessions as a Justice for the County. The table by which the fee was fixed was approved in 1862, and is apparently considered by the Local Authorities to apply to the ex-officio Justices, including the Mayor and District Chairman referred to in the question. In July 1894 I issued a circular recommending that the fee to be charged to Chairmen of District Councils for qualifying shall not exceed 5s. In January last I expressed doubts as to the propriety of the charge of £1. 1s. in the case of Lancashire, and I shall disallow in any future table submitted to the Home Office any fee larger than 5s. for qualifying as an ex-officio Justice. 557 I have, moreover, taken steps to obviate the necessity for ex-officio Justices for the County taking their oaths before the Court of Quarter Sessions at all, Her Majesty having been pleased to direct, under the Promissory Oaths Act, that these oaths may be taken, in future, before any two Justices Sitting in Petty Sessions.