§ MR. GILLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the practice of the Salford Hundred Court of Record in issuing writs from that Court to persons residing in distant parts of the country, whereby it is well-nigh impossible for them to defend such actions; if he can state the number of writs issued during the present year by such Court for sums under £5, under £10, and under £20, respectively; whether he is aware that this Court is extensively used by moneylenders; and whether he proposes to take any steps by legislation or otherwise, to curtail the jurisdiction of this Court in cases where the defendants reside at a distance and where Judges of County Courts have power to try such cases.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. GLADSTONE, Leeds, W.)My attention has been called to the hardships caused by the practice to which the hon. Member refers, and I have consulted the Lord Chancellor, who states that the proper course to be adopted by the council of any borough, or the ratepayers of any parish, whose inhabitants are aggrieved at the action of the Salford Hundred Court of Record, is to petition His Majesty in Council as prescribed in Section 7 of the County Courts Act, 1888, that the jurisdiction of that Court may be excluded.