§ MR. ARCHIBALD GROVE (West Ham, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department— (1) whether his attention has been called to the refusal of the stipendiary magistrate of West Ham to grant process for 868 perjury against one Jordan, who it was alleged had falsely sworn that he had been assaulted by one Harris; (2) whether sworn information had been offered to the stipendiary to prove that Harris had not assaulted Jordan, and refused by the stipendiary; and (3) whether the stipendiary is correctly reported to have stated that his decision had been upheld by "a very friendly Home Secretary"?
§ MR. ASQUITHAt the hearing of the original case the magistrate was of opinion that the only blow proved to have been given by Jordan was given in self-defence after he was struck by Harris. As I stated in answer to a question put to me on the 26th March by my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, the question was purely one of fact, as to which I did not feel justified in interfering with the magistrate's decision. He informs me that he refused to grant the summuns for perjury because he was satisfied upon the materials before him that there was not the slightest chance of a jury convicting. Of course, I have no jurisdiction to interfere in such a matter. The magistrate denies that he used the expression attributed to him in the last paragraph of the question. What ho said was: "You may be sure of the impartial consideration of the Home Secretary."