§ 61. Mr. STEPHEN WALSHasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to certain proposed new by-laws to be applied at St. Helens, Lancashire, requiring persons organising or responsible for processions or public meetings to give a preliminary notice to the watch committee, which must be delivered at the office of the town clerk and at that of the chief constable seven clear days before the proposed date of meeting; whether he is aware that the proposed by-laws require the full name, place of abode, and description of the persons giving the notice, the body or organisation holding the meeting or arranging the procession, the place of assembly, the route proposed, and the destination of the procession, the music, vocal or instrumental, to be sung or played, the emblems or weapons to be carried, the books, newspapers, handbills, tracts, pamphlets, photographs, etc., to be sold, offered for sale, distributed, or exhibited, together with many other restrictive conditions that, in the opinion of many citizens of the borough of St. Helens, constitute an interference with the liberty of the subject and jeopardise the right of public meeting; and whether he will cause a full inquiry to be made before the proposed by-laws are sanctioned by his Department?
§ Mr. McKENNANo by-laws such as those indicated have yet been submitted to me by the town council of St. Helens. If and when they are submitted, I will go fully into the merits of the proposals they may contain.