HC Deb 02 July 1913 vol 54 cc1895-972
Viscount WOLMER

I beg to move, "That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1895."

The object of this Bill is to make it a corrupt practice for anybody, during an election, to deliberately make a misstatement of fact with the intent to affect the result of the election. I need not remind the House that this is already a corrupt practice according to the Act of 1895 if the statement affects the personal character of the candidate. The object of my Bill is to bring any misstatement of fact that is calculated to turn the election into the ambit of the Act of 1895. I maintain that from the point of view of the electorate it is really irrelevant whether the misstatement affects the personal character of the candidate or not. It is desirable, from the point of view of getting an election which represents the opinions of the electors, that the electors should vote with a full knowledge of the facts before them, and, if they vote under a misapprehension of the fact, then it has not been a fair election. Of course, recent events in Leicester have drawn public attention to this matter, but I am not going to pretend for a single instant that members of every party in the State have not at various periods been responsible for such mispractices. I have no desire, for my part, to make a party attack on this occasion, but I just wish to refer to the Leicester election and show the House the sort of case that I mean, and, in doing so, I am not going to use my own words, but I am going to quote the words of the hon. Member for Leicester, the Leader of the Labour party (Mr. Ramsay Macdonald). This is what he said:— I want to say a word about that queer manifesto that was announced from a Liberal platform on Wednesday night. May I say that there was not a single word in that announcement that was true? Unfortunately, the hon. Member for Leicester made that speech after the election and not before it.

Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALD

I sent two telegrams before the election to the same effect.

Viscount WOLMER

I apologise to the hon. Member if I have made any unjust accusation against him, but I think the fact remains that thousands of electors at Leicester went to the poll or abstained from going to the poll under a misapprehension, and that therefore the election was not held under fair conditions. It is for that reason that I desire to introduce this Bill to render that sort of practice a corrupt practice. Really, democratic government is impossible if the eleventh-hour lie is to be an habitual practice at all by-elections. Whether it takes place at Leicester or at Bolton or anywhere else, it is a practice which should be brought to an end.

Sir MAURICE LEVY

I rise to oppose this Bill. Like the Noble Lord, I desire to see elections purified. I desire to see a very comprehensive Corrupt Practices Amendment Act, but I do not think it would be possible to pass it through this House by any private Member. If I thought it were possible to pass a Corrupt Practices Amendment Act by a private Member, I should not oppose this Bill, but I do not believe there is any Member in this House who really believes that there is any sincerity in the Noble Lord's proposal this afternoon. [HON. MEMBERS: "Withdraw."]

Mr. SPEAKER

I would point out that the hon. Member has only ten minutes, and it is not fair to occupy the time with interruptions.

Sir MAURICE LEVY

If any proof that I am justified in snaking that statement were desired, I would only refer to the action of the Noble Lord when I was assisting in presenting the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. Hewart), and when he threw across the House a most vulgar, insulting remark.

Viscount WOLMER

On a point of Order. Is the hon. Member entitled to make an accusation of that sort?

Mr. SPEAKER

What the Noble Lord said to the hon. Member as he passed through the House was "forged telegram."

Viscount WOLMER

And was it not a forged telegram?

Mr. SPEAKER

As the Noble Lord made use of such an expression, I do not think it lies in his mouth to complain of what the hon. Member has said.

4.0 P.M.

Sir M. LEVY

Let me at once say that there was no forged telegram at all. It was a telephonic message, and, through some unfortunate circumstance in the Press, some additions were made to it. I think I am justified in saying the Noble Lord should be the last man to accuse me of sending a forged telegram, seeing that he is closely associated with, and related to one——

Mr. SPEAKER

The hon. Member is not speaking to the Motion. I do not know to what he is referring, but evidently it cannot relate to this Bill.

Sir M. LEVY

I will not labour the point further. I think I am justified, in the circumstances, in asking the House to

reject the Bill. Anyone who has gone to by-elections throughout the length and breadth of the country must know that the Corrupt Practices Act has become a dead letter, in consequence of the organisations brought by other bodies into our midst. At the last election in Leicester there were dozens of organisations brought into the town for the purpose of preventing people really understanding the point at issue. If I thought that a private Member could by any means carry a Bill through this House which would prevent the introduction of these alien organisations, I would not ask the House to reject this Bill. But, believing firmly that no private Member can do that, I earnestly appeal to my hon. Friends in the House not to enact this farce which the Noble Lord suggests this afternoon.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Viscount Wolmer, Mr. Amery, Earl Winterton, Mr. Mills, Lord Robert Cecil, and Mr. Rupert Gwynne. Presented accordingly, and read the first time; to be read a second time To-morrow, and to be printed. [Bill 233.]

Division No. 147.] AYES. [4.5 p.m.
Abraham, William (Dublin, Harbour) Barran, Sir J. N. (Hawick Burghs) Burt, Rt. Hon. Thomas
Abraham, Rt. Hon. William (Rhondda) Barton, William Buxton, Rt. Hon. Sydney C. (Poplar)
Acland, Francis Dyke Beale, Sir William Phipson Carr-Gomm, H. W.
Adamson, William Beauchamp, Sir Edward Cawley, Harold T. (Lancs., Heywood)
Addison, Dr. Christopher Beck, Arthur Cecil Chancellor, Henry George
Agnew, Sir George William Benn, W. W. (T. Hamlets, St. George) Clancy, John Joseph
Ainsworth, John Stirling Bentham, G. J. Clough, William
Alden, Percy Birrell, Rt. Hon. Augustine Collins, Sir Stephen (Lambeth)
Alien, Arthur A. (Dumbartonshire) Black, Arthur W. Compton-Rickett, Rt. Hon. Sir J.
Allen, Rt. Hon. Charles P. (Stroud) Boland, John Plus Condon, Thomas Joseph
Arnold, Sydney Booth, Frederick Handel Cornwall, Sir Edwin A.
Asquith, Rt. Hon. Herbert Henry Bowerman, Charles W. Cory, Sir Clifford John
Atherley-Jones, Llewellyn A. Boyle, Daniel (Mayo, North) Cotton, William Francis
Baker, H. T. (Accrington) Brace, William Cowan, W. H.
Baker, Joseph A. (Finsbury, E.) Brady, Patrick Joseph Craig, Herbert J. (Tynemouth)
Balfour, Sir Robert (Lanark) Brocklehurst, W. B. Crean, Eugene
Baring, Sir Godfrey (Barnstaple) Brunner, John F. L. Crooks, William
Barlow, Sir John Emmott (Somerset) Buckmaster, Stanley O. Crumley, Patrick
Barnes, George N. Burke, E. Haviland Cullinan, John
Dalziel, Rt. Hon. Sir J. H. (Kirkcaldy) King, Joseph Price, C. E. (Edinburgh, Central)
Davies, Ellis William (Eifion) Lambert, Rt. Hon. G. (Devon, S.Molton) Price, Sir R. J. (Norfolk, E.)
Davies, Timothy (Lincs., Louth) Lambert, Richard (Wilts, Cricklade) Priestley, Sir Arthur (Grantham)
Davies, M. Vaughan- (Cardigan) Lardner, James C. R. Priestley, Sir W. E. B. (Bradford, E.)
Delany, William Law, Hugh A. (Donegal, W.) Pringle, William M. R.
Devlin, Joseph Lawson, Sir W. (Cumb'rld, Cockerm'th) Radford, G. H.
Dickinson, W H. Leach, Charles Raffan, Peter Wilson
Dillon, John Levy, Sir Maurice Raphael, Sir Herbert H.
Donelan, Captain A. Lewis, Rt. Hon. John Herbert Rea, Rt. Hon. Russell (South Shields)
Doris, William Lough, Rt. Hon. Thomas Rea, Walter Russell (Scarborough)
Duffy, William J. Low, Sir Frederick (Norwich) Redmond, John E. (Waterford)
Duncan, C. (Barrow-in-Furness) Lundon, Thomas Redmond, William (Clare, E.)
Duncan, J. Hastings (Yorks, Otley) Lyell, Charles Henry Redmond, William Archer (Tyrone, E.)
Edwards, Clement (Glamorgan, E.) Lynch, A. A. Rendall, Athelstan
Elverston, Sir Harold Macdonald, J. Ramsay (Leicester) Richardson, Albion (Peckham)
Esmonde, Dr. John (Tipperary, N.) Macdonald, J. M. (Falkirk Burghs) Richardson, Thomas (Whitehaven)
Esmonde, Sir Thomas (Wexford, N.) McGhee, Richard Roberts, Charles H. (Lincoln)
Essex, Sir Richard Walter Maclean, Donald Roberts, George H. (Norwich)
Esslemont, George Birnie Macnamara, Rt. Hon. Dr. T. J. Roberts, Sir J. H. (Denbighs)
Falconer, James MacNeill, J. G. Swift (Donegal, South) Robertson, Sir G. Scott (Bradford)
Fenwick, Rt. Hon. Charles Macpherson, James Ian Robertson, J. M. (Tyneside)
Ferens, Rt. Hon. Thomas Robinson MacVeagh, Jeremiah Robinson, Sidney
Ffrench, Peter M'Callum, Sir John M. Roch, Walter F. (Pembroke)
Field, William M'Kean, John Roche, Augustine (Louth)
Fitzgibbon, John McKenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald Roe, Sir Thomas
Flavin, Michael Joseph M'Laren, Hon. H. D. (Leics.) Rowlands, James
France, Gerald Ashburner M'Laren, Hon. F.W.S. (Lincs.,Spalding) Rowntree, Arnold
Gelder, Sir W. A. M'Micking, Major Gilbert Russell, Rt. Hon. Thomas W.
Gladstone, W. G. C. Manfield, Harry Samuel, Rt. Hon. H. L. (Cleveland)
Glanville, H. J. Marshall, Arthur Harold Samuel, J. (Stockton-on-Tees)
Goddard, Sir Daniel Ford Martin, Joseph Scanlan, Thomas
Goldstone, Frank Mason, David M. (Coventry) Schwann, Rt. Hon. Sir Charles E.
Greenwood, Granville G. (Petergorough) Masterman, Rt. Hon. C. F. G. Scott, A. MacCallum (Glas., Bridgeton)
Greenwood, Hamar (Sunderland) Meagher, Michael Sheehy, David
Greig, Colonel J. W. Meehan, Francis E. (Leitrim, N.) Simon, Rt. Hon. Sir John Alisebrook
Griffith, Ellis Jones Meehan, Patrick A. (Queen's Co.) Smith, Albert (Lancs., Clitheroe)
Guest, Hon. Frederick E. (Dorset, E.) Menzies, Sir Walter Smith, H. B. Lees (Northampton)
Gwynn, Stephen Lucius (Galway) Middlebrook, William Smyth, Thomas F. (Leitrim)
Hackett, John Millar, James Duncan Snowden, Philip
Harcourt, Rt. Hon. Lewis (Rossendale) Molloy, Michael Soames, Arthur Wellesley
Harcourt, Robert V. (Montrose) Mond, Rt. Hon. Sir Alfred Spicer, Rt. Hon. Sir Albert
Harvey, A. G. C. (Rochdale) Money, L. G. Chiozza Stanley, Albert (Staffs, N.W.)
Harvey, T. E. (Leeds, West) Montagu, Hon. E. S. Sutherland, John E.
Harvey, W. E. (Derbyshire, N.E.) Mooney, John J. Sutton, John E.
Havelock-Allan, Sir Henry Morgan, George Hay Taylor, John W. (Durham)
Hayden, John Patrick Morrell, Philip Taylor, Theodore C. (Radcliffe)
Hayward, Evan Morison, Hector Tennant, Harold John
Hazleton, Richard Morton, Alpheus Cleophas Thomas, J. H.
Healy, Maurice (Cork) Muldoon, John Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton)
Healy, Timothy Michael (Cork, East) Munro, Robert Thorne, William (West Ham)
Helme, Sir Norval Watson Munro-Ferguson, Rt. Hon. R. C. Toulmin, Sir George
Henderson, Arthur (Durham) Murphy, Martin J. Trevelyan, Charles Philips
Henderson, J. M. (Aberdeen, W.) Murray, Captain Hon. Arthur C. Ure, Rt. Hon. Alexander
Henry, Sir Charles Nannetti, Joseph P. Wadsworth, J.
Herbert, General Sir Ivor (Mon., S.) Needham, Christopher T. Walsh, Stephen (Lancs., Ince)
Higham, John Sharp Neilson, Francis Walters, Sir John Tudor
Hinds, John Nicholson, Sir Charles N. (Doncaster) Walton, Sir Joseph
Hobhouse, Rt. Hon. Charles E. H. Nolan, Joseph Ward, W. Dudley (Southampton)
Hodge, John Norton, Captain Cecil W. Wardle, George J.
Hogg, David C. Nugent, Sir Walter Richard Waring, Walter
Hogge, James Myles Nuttall, Harry Warner, Sir Thomas Courtenay
Holmes, Daniel Turner O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny) Wason, Rt. Hon. E. (Clackmannan)
Holt, Richard Durning O'Brien, William (Cork) Wason, John Cathcart (Orkney)
Hope, John Deans (Haddington) O'Connor, John (Kildare, N.) Watt, Henry Anderson
Horne, Charles Silvester (Ipswich) O' Doherty, Philip Webb, H.
Howard, Hon. Geoffrey O'Donnell, Thomas White, J. Dundas (Glasgow, Tradeston)
Hudson, Walter O'Dowd, John White, Sir Luke (Yorks, E.R.)
Hughes, Spencer Leigh O'Kelly, Edward P. (Wicklow, W.) White, Patrick (Meath, North)
Isaacs, Rt. Hon. Sir Rufus O'Malley, William Whittaker, Rt. Hon. Sir Thomas P.
Jardine, Sir J. (Roxburgh) O'Neill, Dr. Charles (Armagh, S.) Wiles, Thomas
John, Edward Thomas O'Shaughnessy, P. J. Williams, John (Giamorgan)
Jones, Rt.Hon.Sir D.Brynmor (Swansea) O'Shee, James John Williams, Penry (Middlesbrough)
Jones, Edgar (Merthyr Tydvil) O'Sullivan, Timothy Williamson, Sir Archibald
Jones, H. Haydn (Merioneth) Outhwaite, R. L. Wilson, Hon. G. G. (Hull, W.)
Jones, J. Towyn (Carmarthen, East) Palmer, Godfrey Mark Wilson, John (Durham, Mid)
Jones, William (Carnarvonshire) Parker, James (Halifax) Wilson, Rt. Hon. J. W. (Worcs., N.)
Jones, William S. Glyn- (Stepney) Pearce, Robert (Staffs, Leek) Winfrey, Richard
Jowett, F. W. Pearce, William (Limehouse) Wing, Thomas Edward
Joyce, Michael Pease, Rt. Hon. Joseph A. (Rotherham) Wood, Rt. Hon. T. McKinnon (Glasgow)
Keating, Matthew Phillips, John (Longford, S.) Young, William (Perthshire, East)
Kellaway, Frederick George Pirie, Duncan V. Yoxall, Sir James Henry
Kelly, Edward Pointer, Joseph
Kennedy, Vincent Paul Pollard, Sir George H. TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—Mr. Illingworth and Mr. Gulland.
Kilbride, Denis Ponsonby, Arthur A. W. H.
NOES.
Agg-Gardner, James Tynte Fisher, Rt. Hon. W. Hayes Newdegate, F. A.
Amery, L. C. M. S. Fitzroy, Hon. Edward A. Newman, John R. P.
Anson, Rt. Hon. Sir William R. Fletcher, John Samuel Nicholson, William G. (Petersfield)
Anstruther-Gray, Major William Forster, Henry William O'Neill, Hon. A. E. B. (Antrim, Mid)
Archer-Shee, Major M. Gardner, Ernest Orde-Powlett, Hon. W. G. A.
Ashley, Wilfrid W. Gastrell, Major W. Houghton Ormsby-Gore, Hon. William
Astor, Waldorf Gilmour, Captain John Paget, Almeric Hugh
Baird, John Lawrence Glazebrook, Captain Philip K. Parker, Sir Gilbert (Gravesend)
Baker, Sir Randoll L. (Dorset, N.) Goldsmith, Frank Parkes, Ebenezer
Baldwin, Stanley Gordon, Hon. John Edward (Brighton) Pease, Herbert Pike (Darlington)
Banbury, Sir Frederick George Goulding, Edward Alfred Perkins, Walter F.
Baring, Major Hon.Guy V. (Winchester) Grant, J. A. Pretyman, Ernest George
Barnston, Harry Gretton, John Pryce-Jones, Colonel E.
Barrie, H. T. Guinness, Hon. Rupert (Essex, S.E.) Randles, Sir John S
Bathurst, Hon. A. B. (Gloucester, E.) Guinness, Hon. W. E. (Bury S. Edmunds) Rawlinson, John Frederick Peel
Bathurst, Charles (Wilts, Wilton) Gwynne, R. S. (Sussex, Eastbourne) Roberts, S. (Sheffield, Ecclesall)
Beach, Hon. Michael Hugh Hicks Haddock, George Bahr Rolleston, Sir John
Beckett, Hon. Gervase Hall, D. B. (Isle of Wight) Ronaldshay, Earl of
Benn, Arthur Shirley (Plymouth) Hall, Frederick (Dulwich) Rothschild, Lionel de
Benn, Ion Hamilton (Greenwich) Hamersley, Alfred St. George Royds, Edmund
Bentinck, Lord H. Cavendish- Hamilton, C. G. C. (Ches., Altrincham) Rutherford, John (Lancs., Darwen)
Bigland, Alfred Hardy, Rt. Hon. Laurence Samuel, Sir Harry (Norwood)
Bird, Alfred Harris, Henry Percy Sanders, Robert Arthur
Blair, Reginald Henderson, Major H. (Berkshire) Sandys, G. J.
Boles, Liet.-Colonel Dennis Fortescue Herbert, Hon. A. (Somerset, S.) Smith, Rt. Hon. F. E. (L'pool, Walton)
Boyle, William (Norfolk, Mid) Hewins, William Albert Samuel Smith, Harold (Warrington)
Boyton, James Hills, John Waller Spear, Sir John Ward
Bridgeman, William Clive Hill-Wood, Samuel Stanley, Hon. Arthur (Ormskirk)
Bull, Sir William James Hoare, S. J. G. Stanley, Hon. G. F. (Preston)
Burdett-Coutts, W. Mohier, Gerald Fitzroy Staveley-Hill, Henry
Burgoyne, Alan Hughes Hope, James Fitzalan (Sheffield) Steel-Maitland, A. D.
Burn, Colonel C. R. Hope, Major J. A. (Midlothian) Stewart, Gershom
Butcher, John George Houston, Robert Patercon Swift, Rigby
Campbell, Captain Duncan F. (Ayr, N.) Hunt, Rowland Sykes, Sir Mark (Hull, Central)
Campion, W. R. Hunter, Sir Charles Rodk. Talbot, Lord Edmund
Carlile, Sir Edward Hildred Ingleby, Holcombe Terrell, George (Wilts, N.W.)
Cassel, Felix Jardine, Ernest (Somerset, E.) Terrell, Henry (Gloucester)
Cator, John Kinloch-Cooke, Sir Clement Thompson, Robert (Belfast, North)
Cautley, Henry Strother Larmor, Sir J. Thynne, Lord Alexander
Cecil, Evelyn (Aston Manor) Law, Rt. Hon. A. Boner (Bootle) Tullibardine, Marquees of
Cecil, Lord Hugh (Oxford Unixersity) Lawson, Hon. H. (T. H'mts., Mile End) Valentia, Viscount
Chaloner, Colonel R. G. W. Lee, Arthur Hamilton Walrond, Hon. Lionel
Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J. A. (Worc'r.,E.) Lewisham, Viscount Weigall, Captain A. G.
Clay, Captain H. H. Spender Lloyd, George Ambrose (Stafford, W.) Weston, Colonel J. W.
Clive, Captain Percy Archer Lloyd, George Butler (Shrewsbury) Wheler, Granville C. H.
Coates, Major Sir Edward Feetham Locker-Lampson, G (Salisbury) White, Major G. D. (Lancs., Southport)
Craig, Charles Curtis (Antrim, S.) Lockwood, Rt. Hon. Lt.-Colonel A. R. Williams, Colonel R. (Dorset, W.)
Craig, Ernest (Cheshire, Crewe) Lowe, Sir F. W. (Birm., Edgbaston) Willoughby, Major Hon. Claud
Craig, Captain James (Down, E.) Lyttelton, Hon. J. C. (Droitwich) Wilson, A. Stanley (Yorks, E.R.)
Craig, Norman (Kent, Thanet) MacCaw, William J. MacGeagh Wolmer, Viscount
Crichton-Stuart, Lord Ninian Mackinder, Halford J. Wood, Hon. E. F. L. (Yorks, Ripon)
Dairymple, Viscount Macmaster, Donald Wood, John (Stalybridge)
Denison-Pender, J. C. M'Calmont, Major Robert C. A. Worthington-Evans, L.
Denniss, E. R. B. Magnus, Sir Philip Wright, Henry Fitzherbert
Dixon, C. H. Malcolm, Ian Yate, Colonel C. E.
Duncannon, Viscount Mason, James F. (Windsor) Younger, Sir George
Eyres-Monsell, Bolton M Meysey-Thompson, E. C.
Faber, Captain W. V. (Hants, W.) Mildmay, Francis Bingham TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—Sir
Fell, Arthur Morrison-Bell, Capt. E. F. (Ashburton) H. Craik and Mr. H. Hope.
Finlay, Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Morrison-Bell, Major A. C. (Honiton)

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill reported without Amendment; to be read the third time To-morrow (Thursday).

    c1898
  1. TEMPERANCE (SCOTLAND) BILL. 46 words
  2. cc1901-72
  3. PLURAL VOTING BILL. 30,862 words, 3 divisions