§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what fund have the sums, saved by the abolition, irrespective of the three judgeships now vacant, since 1877 of the offices of a Chief Justiceship of the Common Pleas in Ireland, with an annual salary of £4,600, of two puisne Judgeships and one land Judgeship, each with an annual salary of £3,500, and of a Judgeship of the Court of Admiralty, with an annual salary of £2,500, been appropriated; and what has been the amount of the capital sum saved by the abolition of these offices, up to the present time?
THE HON. MEMBERalso asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) to what fund has the sum saved by the reduction in the number of the Irish County Court Judges, under the provisions of the County Court (Ireland) Act, 1877, been appropriated; and what has been the amount of the capital sum saved up to the present time by the reduction in the number of Irish County Court Judges; (2) whether the reduction in the number of the members of the Irish judiciary effected since 1877 has been accompanied with a corresponding, or any, reduction in the scale of court fees; and whether the reduced expenditure on the Irish judicial establishments has lessened in any, and, if so, what manner, the expenses of litigants?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir MICHAEL HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.I will answer the hon. Member's three questions together. Concurrently with the abolition of the Judgeships mentioned, the judicial offices of the Land Commissioners have been created, and the amount of 727 their salaries has exceeded those of the abolished Judges. There has been no saving. [Cries of "Oh!"] I am stating the facts. Similarly the reduction of the judicial staff of the County Courts under the Act of 1877 was part of a larger scheme, which imposed on the votes of Parliament the salaries and expenses of the clerks of the Crown and peace. The result has been a substantial and growing excess of public cost, after making full allowance for the receipts from Court fees payable under the Act. On the passing of the Judicature Act, 1877, new tables of fees were issued, which in many cases reduced the amount payable by the suitor. The result has been that the total amount of fees paid, which was £42,422 in the year of the passing of the Act, has now fallen to £34,769.
§ MR. MACNEILLasked whether the right hon. Gentleman would say to what special fund the saving from these Judgeships had been allocated. Was it not the fact that the sum payable to the Land Commissioners was charged in the Estimates for the year, whereas the salaries of the Judges were charged upon the Consolidated Fund? What he wanted to know was where the Jubilee the money had gone to? [Laughter.]
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERWhat is saved under one head has been spent under another.