§ MR. H. C. F. LUTTRELL (Devon, Tavistock)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board, in regard to the Order lately issued by the Local Government Board, fixing 9th March as the day for the parish meeting when the parish councillors are to be elected for the year, and, in view of the fact that under the Local Government Act, 1894, First Schedule, Part 1, the annual parish meeting must be held on the 25th March, or within seven days before or after that day, and considering that the 25th March being the day on which a large proportion of houses change hands, if the election be held before that day all persons would be disqualified for election who have come to reside in a parish on 25th March, 1895, he would take into consideration the desirability of so changing the Order as to allow the parish councils to fix a date for election within the time prescribed by the Local Government Act, 1894, for the annual meeting?
§ MR. F. A. CHANNING (Northampton, E.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether, having regard to the fact that parish councils, in pursuance of Rule 1, in Part 1, of the First Schedule of the Local Government Act, 1894, will have had to fix their annual meeting on the 25th day of March, or within seven days before or after that day, and that another annual meeting will have to be held within seven days after the coming into office of parish councillors to be elected at the coming elections, he will take into consideration the grave inconvenience and expense to parishes of holding three successive parish meetings within a few weeks, and will consent to modify the Order of 15th February so that parishes may hold the election meeting either as part of the annual meeting under Rule 1 in Part 1 of Schedule 1, or that the two meetings may be held consecutively on the same day?
§ MR. CHAPLINIt may be convenient that I should at the same time reply to the question of the hon. Member for East Northamptonshire. One of the three successive parish meetings to which he refers is a meeting of the parish council, and not a meeting of the parishioners. The Board have no power 1261 to alter the provision in Schedule 1 of the Act as to the date on which the annual meeting is to be held; and it would be wholly impracticable now to alter the order as to the meeting for the election, (I may add as a reason for having the election on a date different from the annual meeting that, seeing that the meeting for the election cannot commence before 6 o'clock in the evening, the proceedings as to the election, especially having regard to the opportunities which the Statute requires shall be given for putting questions to the candidates who are present, and for receiving explanations from them, would generally occupy so much time that it would be impossible to discuss any other business apart from the election subsequently unless the meeting were continued until an unduly late hour.) It is obviously necessary that the date of the meeting for the election of parish councillors should be fixed so as to allow due time for the taking of the poll by ballot should a poll be demanded. It seems to be desirable that proceedings in connection with the poll should not be fixed for Easter-time, and it is necessary that the result of the election should be ascertained in time for the new Councillors to have due notice of their election before April 15, when they come into office. Meetings which might be held within the limit of time suggested in the Question would not admit of these conditions being fulfilled.
§ MR. CHANNINGasked, whether, having regard to the fact that the poll, if any, must be held a fortnight after the election meeting, and that April 15th was the day on which parish councillors entered on their duties, it was not perfectly possible to have the election meeting on any day in the week beginning March 23rd.
§ MR. CHAPLINsaid, that by law the date was March 25, or within seven days before that date or seven days after that date. The Government had no authority to fix a date; that was done by the Act.
§ MR. J. W. LOGAN (Leicester, Harborough)would like to know, if a person came to reside in a parish on March 25, 1895, he would be eligible for election, seeing that he had resided in the parish for the statutory period?
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order!