§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
THE EARL OF CRAWFORDMy Lords, this Bill looks rather more important than it really is. It merely arranges that the salaries hitherto paid to sheriffs by the county borough councils and county councils, under the Grand July (Ireland) Act of 1836, shall in future be payable to the under-sheriffs, and to increase the amounts so paid. It also allows for an 601 increase in the annual salary of a process-server, if he be also a bailiff, up to the sum of £40. There are a large number of these process-servers—between 700 and 800, all told, in Ireland—but, as it is expected that this number can be largely decreased whilst increasing the salaries of those who remain, the increased burden upon the public funds will be very small. In fact, the net increase in the public charge involved in this Bill is estimated to amount to not more than £400 a year. It will also improve the efficiency of the work, and I think that a fair case has been made out for this expenditure of money.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a,—(The Earl of Crawford.)
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.