The Express.
London, England, 1861-10-05 00:00:00

THE REGISTRATION&

MIDDLEfIEL

Yesterday Mr. H. S. Maine and Mr. T. H.
Terrell held a court at Jack Straw's Castle, Hampstead-
heath, for the revision of the electoral lists for the several
parishes of Hampstead, Homey, and Willesden.
As on former 00011i01111. Mr. W. Albert James. of Parlia-
ment-street, Westminster, appeared magenta tbe Middlemen
Reform Registration Society; Mr.T. Alley Jones, of eSeunl.
inn for the Middlesex Conservative Registration
tioZ ; Mr. Henry Smith, of Norfolk-street, solicitor to the
Conservative Laud Society, for the New Middlesex Conser-
vative n Society ; Hr. James was assisted by Mr.
John Wells, of Perayotreet, agent for the West Surrey
Registration Society.
The recent decisions of the Barristers—one at Enfield, the
others in the City and at Mary lelanie—of requiring the strictest
proof of notices of objection, as a condition precedent to en.
tertaioing the objection, has thrown a new interest over the
registration. By those decisions 400 conservative objec-
tions were held to be had ; and in Marylebone full costs
Ma.) were also allowed to the pertiee objected to. The
question of sufficiency of notice was again discussed on this
occasion.

George Reed Adam, of 3.1. Priory-road, Kilburn, on the
Hampstead bet, for the occupation of house and hind, was
objected to by Mr. Charles Frederick laver.
Mr. Henry James Droved that on the 22nd of August he
received various ootices of objection from Mr. Dear, and
posted them at the Vere.street post-office, receiving back
from the post-office duplicates of the notices, stamped with
the poet-office stamp.
Frederick Cook, a messenger at the General Post-office,
stated that on the 22nd of August he was an assistant in
the Verentreet office. In the course of the day notices of
objection were brought to him by the last witness ; and he
examined them, and stamped them, after which he sent
the originals into the City, and returned the duplicates.
The stamp on the duplicate was the stamp of the Vete-
street office, which was a mosey-order office.
Cross-examined by Mr. Smith—l affixed the stamp with
niy own hand.
Mr. Smith complained of the iuconvenienoe and injustice
arising from the variation, from day to day, of the course of
practice in then revision courts. One coulee of practice
was pursued one day, another practice another day ; and this
being done without mote*, it was impossible for the agents
to come prepared with evidence.
Mr. Terrell—We found that we were getting a little dis-
crepant in our practice, and we met and discussed the matter
with a view to producing uniformity.
Mr. Smith—My chests are prejudiced by your want of
uniformity.
Mr. Terrell—lf we do wrong you have your remedy.
Mr. Deer deposed that the signature to the notice of
Abjection was in his haudwritiog, and we. on the register
for St. Mary, Islington. When he had slimed the notices
produced, he handed Hosea to Mr. H. James.

truce-Mmulined by Mr. Smith—They all boa_ my sigma-
turf., —tbs., and this, sad this. All are la my landwritinfl-
Mr. Smith asked the mart to compare the signatures.
Mr. Terrell—They aortal* have a varied appearance.
Mr. Jeans—ate give a reason!
Mr. Deer maid be mild. He was suffering at the time be
signed the ashen hem • carbuncle in his shoulder.
Mr. Smith—Yow are what is called the objector.general
for the liberal petty, I believe! (Laughter.)
Mr. Dear—No yea bare said before.
Mr. Smith—Did you go through the circumstances of
earl ease ?

Mr. Drew—Yes ; bat riot when I signed them.
Mr. Smith—ln the performance of your patriotic duty
you demand that information should be affordedou?
Mr. Dear-1 don't know that it may be termed • patriotic
duty.
erese-examination resumed—When I banded the notices
to Mr. Henry James I bads shrewd guess that he was going
to post them. lam a clerk iu Mr. James's office, and have
been so two or three years. All the time I have been ob-
ssienie-geseral. My pineal* duty is the Middlesex regis-
tratism.
Ite.examined by Mr. James— I satisfy myself by referring
to the office books that there is good ground for objection
before I Gigs a notice morose a vote on the register.
Mr. Terrell—Bokwe objecting what step did you take?
Mr. Dear—lnfeineatioo was received from the neigh-
bourhoods where the parties reside. We employed persons
to We inquiries is lbs localities. At Hampstead we bad
Mr. Moore. These spats sent us information of change of
residence arid loss of qualification. My objections were
founded entirely on information thus acquired, or sad to
us by velnisteers.

26. Tevrea—Did you take soy pains to ascertain whether
such isforsestios was correct !

Yr. Dur—Tes. ---
•
Mr. Tolls; valuvierk. prored receiving Ines Mr. Ash-

sedan, the overseer,' the notices of objectioa sent to the
°Tersely; be twelves Mans before the 25th of August, and
pubbshal than is a ILL
Mr. Aabitades said be received the notices, some VI
some by band, sad sent them to Mr. Toiler. He
know 'bee he received them, nor did be know which came
by past. though he believed they was thaw es thin paper.
Mr. Terrell—Can you swear it?
°veneer—l should not like anal, to swear it, but I
feel 'mildest that it was the thin owe that I received by
rat.
Mr. H. James (recoiled) said he aid op the Hampeteed
overawe's notices, acid gave them to his brother Frederick,
with instructions to deliver them to Mr. Athendea, the
overseer ; and the next day his brother said he had
dons so.

-lir. James said he could not carry the case further.
Mr. eolith urged that, according to the rigid rules the
barristers had laid down, the evidence of service on the
women was sot sufficiently proved.
Kr. James drew attention to the fact that the notices
were received by Totter before the 25th of August, sad that
Mr. Toiler published them as having been received is time.
In the ease of " Davis v. Hopkins," the Court of Common
Pleas decided that where a cLom had been signed by as
agent, and the overseers had published it, the barrister had
properly deeded that he could not go into the question of
the signature to the claim. In the same way he urged that
the publication by Toiler of the list of objections was •
sufficient proof of service on the overseer.
The Barristers retired for half an hour to deliberate ; and
ontheir return,

Mr. Terrell delivered their joint judgment:—" The 7th
section of the Registration Act provided that 'every per-
son who shell be upon the register for the time being for
nay county, may object to any other person upon any list of
voters for such county, as not having been entitled on the
last day of July then next precedtng to have his name in-
serted in any list of voters for such county ; and every per-
son so objecting (save and except overseers objecting in the
manner hereinbefore mentioned) shall on or before the 25th
day of August in such year, give or cause to be given to the
overseers of the poor of the parish or township to which the
list of voters containing the name of the person so objected
to may relate, a notice according to the form numbered 4
in the schedule A, or to the like effect.' The 46th section,
of the Act pointed out the course which the revising
barrister was to take with regard to such objections. It said
' And where the name of any person inserted in any list of
voters shall have been objected to by the overseers, or by
any other person, and such other person so objecting shall
appear by himself or some one in his behalf in support of
such objection, and shall prove that be gave the notice or '
notices respectively required by this act to be given by him,
every such barrister shall,' sod so on. The harrater was
not, therefore, to call on the voter, or the person on the list,
to substantiate his right to be there until the person ob.
jecting bad given in manner and form required by the act, all
the notices required by the act, one of them being obviously
the notice mentioned in the 7th section, namely, the ladies
to she overseer. In some form or other some notice had been
given to the overseer in this case; but to ascertain the
nature of the notice they must refer to the evidence. Mr.
Asbendeu was the overseer, and the person to whom the
notice* ought to have been sent. It appeared that the
notices to the overseer were orignally packed up in a bundle,
and they were forwarded some by post and some by de-
livery. Asbeedeo would not undertake to swear which
came in one way sad which in the other, but he thought the
thin on= were sent by post, although he would not under.
take to swear. As he received them, or about the time, he
forwarded them to Mr. Toiler, the proper officer. Mr.
Toiler received them, probably, before the 25th of
August. If it bad plainly appeared that the notices'
were all delivered instead of being sent by
that would have been sufficient proof of service. post,ie
were sent by poet, some by hand, to Mr. Asbenden, but no
one could inform the court which particular notices came in
one way and which came the other way. In favour, there-
fore, of the voter, they must usame and apply the law as if
all bed been sent by post. This led to the inquiry whether
the provisions of the act had been complied with. The 100th
section specifically pointed out what were the gains to be
seat by the post, and the manner is which they should be
mat, but that applied only to parties objected to, and was
expressly limited to persons objected to, or, in county votes,
to occupying tenants, and if the act had stopped
there, there would Lave been no power of sending
by post, but only of service by personal deli.
very. But in the interpretation clause they found,
" That wherever any notice is by this act required to be
gives or net to the overseers of any parish or township, it
shall be sufficient if such notice shall be delivered to any one
of such overseers, or shall be left at his place of abode, or
at his office or other place for transacting parochial business,
or shell be sent by the pad free of postage, or the postage
thereof being first paid, addruned to the overseers of the
particular parish or township ; naming the parish or town-
ship, and the county, city, or bwough respectively to which'
the notice to be so mot may relate, without adding
any place of abode of such overseers." If the act had
stayed there, they should have conceded, in fact
they could not have avoided it, that the ordinary
sending by post, duly directed, would be sufficient.
It was guru, obvious that wherever by this act any notice
was required to be given or sent by any person whatever to
any public office, it was sufficient that such notice should
be sent by post, subject to the regulations already provided
in the 100th section • and therefore the production of the
stamped duplicates ;Ad the other incidents was necessary
to prove service on the overseer in the nine manner
as on the other. They had got, therefore, a large
mass of notices sent variously, some delivered and some
posted ; and in the interest of the voter they ruled treat
dismal as having been sent by post. The stamped dupli-
cates were not produced ; and on theme grounds, being de.
termined to carry out to the fullest the provision of
the act, they considered that the objections fell to the
ground.
This decision ruled the whole of the objections on both
sides.

Mr. Jones—The very same decision was come to by Mr.
Bluidwell on my objectioo 15 years ago.
Mr. Terrell said it was a satisfaction to the barrister to
bear their derision corroborated by so able an authority.
Mr. Jones—But he reversed his practice soon afterwards.
(Laughter.)
In the case of Edward Bullen, a/similar case to that of
Adams, Mr. James called Mr. Asheoden, and asked him
whether since he had given evidence he had refreshed bin
memory with regard to the notice, to which he replied in
the affirmative.

Mr. Terrell—Do you expect us to act on the evidence
of a person who, after hearing our judgment, says he has
refreshed his memory, and is prepared to give some
different information?
Mr. James after this would not press the matter.
Subsequently Mr. James asked for a case.
Mr. Terrell—On what point?
Mr. James—That the publication of the objections °po-
nds' es a waiver of evidence am to the proper reception at
the notices.
__ _

Terrell—Aad renders the 40th clause nugatory
Mr. James—Yew
The Barrister said they would consult, and give a cue it
they were able to draw eon

BLACKBURN.
A crowded public meeting was held in the Town-
hall on Wednesday evening, " to consider what steps are
necesaary to be taken in order to protect the rightful chums
of 1,746 burgesses who have had notices of objection served
epos them in a spirit of maliciousness and frivolity, and
generally to determine upon rind adopt such steps as shell
prevent any burgess from being robbed of his legal • hte."
Mr. Couecillor MURRAY presided; and, in inteoduciog
the question, said he was oss of the many objected to,
bet that day his objection had been " withdrawn. He
understood a lug. number of the objections bad bees
similarly " withdrawn but he would advise all who had
received papers with "withdraws" written across them is
red ink, not to let that satisfy them, but to attend every
man at the Revidon Court, and support his right to be upon
the burgess roll. (Chem.)
Mr. JANIS Huron proposed the Iret resolution :
" That this meeting damper and protests against the con-
duct of the tory party, to having combined or conspired to
deprive en overwhelming number of liberal burgesses of their
legal rights, in eery* 1,779 objections on those burgesses
whose qualiiicition they knew to be good, but whose oppor-
tunity of atteodiog they knew to be doubtful ; while, on
the other heed, the large number of notices of withdrawal:
which they have seat out proves, In fact. that the objections
were frivolous, vexatious. and unfounded."
Mr. Eamon KING seconded the resolution, which wee
supported by Mr. W. Garrison, and uoanimously carried.
Mr. J. FILLDCN then moved the appointment of a commit-
tee, "for the purpose, of taking such steps u may be deemed
neoerary sod expedient to defend the right& of those bur-
geon whew votes have been frivolously and vexatiously
objected to, sod generally to expose the connectors, origi-
nators, and agents of the tory onslaught on the burgess list."
The resolution was agreed to • as was also the following :
"That, in order to free the borough from the domination of
a party, this meeting pledgee itself to bring forward in each
ward, on the lit November next, candidates who will act
independently of party or faction."

Emir Suaarr.—The barrister, Mr. Best, held
his court yesterdey at the Home Tavern, Kenning-
ton, for the purpose of going through the lists of
voters in the parishes of Lambeth, Streatham, and
Clapham. Mr. Hare and Mr. Whitfield attended u the
conservative agents ; and Mr. Curtis, Mr. Barker, and Mr.
Wingham appeared for the liberals. Mr. Jean., of Wand►
wortb was also present on behalf of the Feat Sauey Be.
form Regietration Society. There were not many claims or
objections, aed the proceedings were almost entirely of a
formal character, and no point of the slightest interest or
novelty arose during the whole sitting.
Soont NOMIIIIMBERLAND.—The revising bar-
rider, Mr. Hogg, completed the revivion for the southern
division of Northumberland on Wednesday last. The re-
sult has bees • pia la the Liberals of 29.