§ SIR J. W. MACLURE (Lancashire, Stratford)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury will he explain why the extensive district of Withington has been removed from the jurisdiction of the Stockport county court and added to the jurisdiction of the Manchester county court; has it been repre- 695 sented to him that the business of the latter court will be largely increased by such removal and by the Workmen's Compensation Act; and will he also state why the allowance to clerks in the Manchester county court has been reduced by £50 this year and an intimation given that a further reduction of £50 will be made in 1899, in spite of the protests of the judge and registrar of such court, and in spite of the fact that the business of the court is largely increasing and will further increase, whilst it is conducted at a decreased expenditure?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.I am informed by the Lord Chancellor that the change of jurisdiction has been made in consequence of strong and repeated representations from the locality, which was for all other purposes allied with Manchester, rather than Stockport. It will, no doubt, increase the work of the Manchester county court, but whether the operation of the Workmen's Compensation Act will materially contribute to this result seems doubtful. With regard to the last paragraph, I am informed that if the business at Manchester increases the allowance for clerical assistance will be increased in proportion. The payment to the clerks of the county court is based on the average of the payments for the last four years, and it is quite as high as that in other courts which do a similar amount of business.