The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-14 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. _(YESTERDAY.)
COUNTY ELECTIONS POLLS (SCOTLAND)
BILL.
Mr. ELLIOTT then moved the following clauses :
That every county voter (except as hereinafter provided)
shall poll at the polling place of the district within which
the premises, or part of them, in respect of which he
claims to vote may be situate ; provided that nothing
herein contained shall be held to repeal or alter
the ninth section of the seventy-eighth chapter of
the statute passed in the fifth and sixth years of
his said Majesty, respecting freeholders in counties.
Any county voter not being a freeholder, and not resi-
dent in the district containing the premises in respect of
which he claims to vote, may make application in per-
son by writing to the Sheriff, at the Registration Court
of the county, to be entitled to poll at the polling place
nearest to his residence; and the Sheriff, on being satis-*
fled of the truth of the statements of such voter,
shall insert n the list against the name of the voter
making such application, the name of the poll-
ing place at which such person shall be registered to
vote, and such voter shall thereafter be entitled to vote
at such polling place ; and shall not be at liberty to poll
at any other polling place for the same county. Where
the polling place for a district containing the premises
in respect of which any voter claims to vote shall be in
an island distant more than ten miles from the main-
land of the county, such voter not being resident
in the island may poll at the polling place for the
district in which the county town is included. With
respect to section 33 of the said first-mentioned
statute, be it enacted, that where the sheriff shall not
have received the poll-books, transmitted from any
island, within the time therein limited for the opening
thereof, the sheriff may adjourn the point for the decla-
ration of the state and result of the poll from day to
day, omitting Sunday, and shall at the first of such ad-
journed courts after the receipt of such poll-books pro-
ceed to declare the poll, and make proclamation and
a return in the manner therein mentioned.

Agreed to.
Mr. FREDERICK DUNDAS moved the following
proviso :—Provided always, that in respect of the re-
mote situation of certain parts of the county of Orkney
and Shetland, and the occasional difficult intercommu-
nication therein, nothing in this act contained shall alter
the provisions of the said recited act so far as relates to
the keeping open of the poll for two consecutive days as
heretofore ; but nothing in this proviso contained shall
be construed to exclude the said county of Orkney and
Shetland from any of the benefits or obligations of the
other portions of this act.
After a short discussion the provi o was agreed to.
Mr. DUNLOP moved the following amenamentsd
Page 1 (preamble), line 4, after " places,"insert,
also to repeal so much of the act of the second and
third years of the reign of his late Majestyb
William the Fourth, chapter sixty-five, as enacts King
William that
no poll, whether in counties or burghs, shall begin on a
Saturday, and to amend the regulations for taking the
poll in counties and burghs."
Agreed to.
The house then resumed.

JUDGES EXCLUSION BILL.
On the second reading of this bill being proposed,
Lord PALMERSTON said he thought there were
valid objections against the passing of the bill. In ac
cordance with the generous spirit of our constitution, the
doors of Parliament ought to be open as widely as possi-
ble to all who could assist them in debate. There were
instances in which that principle might be departed
from. There were persons holding official situations
which would prevent them properly discharging the du-
ties of a member of Parliament unless they neglected
their other functions, and there were others who, from
filling certain offices, were considered to be too much under
the influence of the Crown to be independent and self-
willed members of the house. But it was not advisable
to carry the principle of exclusion further than strong
necessity or apparent advantage required. No doubt
there were some judges whose duties were incompatible
with their attendance in the house, and whose appear-
ance would not perhaps contribute to the independence
of its character, but he did not think the Master of the
Rolls, to whose exclusion the present bill was chiefly
directed, was one of those functionaries. For a great
length of tune many eminent Masters of the Rolls had
held a seat in the house, and greatly assisted it in its de-
liberations. He recollected that Sir Wm. Grant, who
was a master of the Rolls, brought to the discussions in
the house the aid of deep learning and extensive infor-
mation on matters of high importance, which members
generally had little studied, while they at the same time
maintained a perfect independence of character. If the
house excluded the Master of the Rolls because he was a
judicial officer, he did not see how they could omit to apply
the same principle to the Cursitor Baron of the
Exchequer, recorders and chairmen of quarter sessions.
He considered that it was manifestly absurd to shut out
men who, above all others were particularly qualified
to assist the house in debai, and whose presence among
them added to its dignity and character. (Hear.)
Mr. HUME thought it was incompatible with the
judicial functions of the Master of the Rolls to have a
seat in the house. At the present time there was a vast
amount of arrears in the Court of Chancery, and he
asked whether it was consistent with the proper dis-
charge of his duties as a judge of that court to take a
part in an election committee ? He considered that
every one of the judges included in the schedule of
the bill ought to be precluded from sitting in the house.
Sir F. KELLY regretted that so distinguished a
member of the house as Lord Palmerston should oppose
the bill. In his opinion there was something inconsist-
ent in the position of the Master of the Rolls sitting in
the house. With only two exceptions he was the
highest judicial officer in the country, the Lord Chan-
cellor and the Chief Justice of England being only his
superiors in rank. Supposing he expressed an opinion
upon a legal matter which would be binding out
of the house, and the house decided against it,
that circumstance would certainly not increase the
respect and confidence with which he was looked upon
by the public. There were also scenes connected with
the election of members, especially in large boroughs,
which derogated from the dignity of the office, and
lessened that esteem in which the superior judges of the
land had invariably been held. He trusted that the Go-
vernment would not oppose the second reading.
Mr. V. SMITH said the speech of the hon. and
learned member was calculated to cast a stain upon all
Popular assemblies. He did not know what experience
be might have had in elections, but he could
not allow it to be said that the pursuit for a
seat in the house was a matter of personal indignity.
(Hear.) He thought the experience and judgment of
the Master of the Rolls would be most valuable to the
house, and he should, therefore, oppose any measure
which required his exclusion.
Sir J. PAKINGTON did not think it could be fairly
contended that the chairman of the Quarter Sessions was
to be treated as a judicial officer, as he received no salary,
was not appointed by the Crown, and was not recognised
either by the law or the constitution. He held that the
whole spirit of our recent legislation had been to exclude
judicial officers from the house, as evidenced by the
County Courts Act, which disqualified the judges of
those tribunals from being members of Parliament.
Mr. EWART said that judges were admitted into the
representative assemblies of America, and he had not
heard that their presence had tended to injure legisla-
tion, or to bring it into disrepute. He considered that
the qualification of the Master of the Rolls to sit in the
house was a remnant, and not an innovation, of our old
constitution, and believing that his attendance in the
house would be of great advantage to members, he
should support the amendment. •
Lord J. RUSSELL said he had the greatest possible
objection to limiting the choice of the constituent
body of the country. He disliked it, on principle, because
he thought that the people at large should not be re-
strained in selecting men of eminent ability to represent
..hem. (Hear.) He likewise thought that such a course
tended very much to the degradation of the house, for
the presence of men of great learning and eminent abili-
ties gave lustre to it, and led to the preservation of its
authority and dignity. Sir James Grant, Sir Joseph
Jekyll, and Lord Lyndhurst had all sat in the house
while Masters of the Rolls, and they had not only dis-
played great powers in debate, but greatly assisted the
transaction of business by their legal learning and infor-
mation. Mr. Pitt had said that he did not like to sit
in the Rouse of Commons as Prime Minister unless there
were some members qualified to give opinions upon im-
portant questions of law. He (Lord J. Russell) did not
think that any person could seriously entertain the belief
that the Master of the Rolls in the event of being elected
a member would necessarily neglect his Parliamentary
duties, or that because he sat in the Court of Chancery
in the morning, he would not be able to attend the house
in the afternoon. It had been objected that if he were
a member of the house he would not be able to sit upon
election committees, but that was the case with all the
officers of the chief departments of the State, and they
were exempted from the attendance upon such com-
mittees. It was also said that the turmoil of an
election contest was unfitted for the holder of
ao distinguished an office, but if a person of
well-known abilities succeeded in obtaining the confi-
v'nee of a constituency, they would return him easily,
o(1, the • • •
majority of instances, perhaps without
send He hoped the house would not sent to the b'
as-
which hide bill, and deprive it of the advantages
Sir William obtained from such eminent men as
Mr. ATHEGMisrd Lord Stowell. (Hear, hear.)
scribed to the objectiosupported the bill. He quite
limited in
the noble lord, that constitu-
encies should not be
the
in their choice •, but the
number of judges in t
did not think their exclusioerltrY was so small, that he
would have such an effect,
while he believed it would tend to the more efficient per-
formance of their duties in their respective courts.
gesnionbtle lord (Lord
Mr. WHITESIDE thanked
e the schedule
Hotham) for introducing Irish jud
of the bill. He hoped the house
would agree to the
second reading.
Lord HOTHAM having briefly stated the reasons
why he had introduced the measure,
The bill was read a second time.

COUNTY RATES AND EXPENDITURE BILL.
The house then went into committee on this bill.
On clause 4,
Sir J. PASINGTON moved the insertion of an
amendment, the effect of which was to keep the magis-
trates' boards as at present, but to allow the introduc-
tion of certain elected members. He thought there
would be serious practical difficulties in the way of
inakilig_such rodigious change in the management of
14,4 Vol counties as was proposed by the bill.
..
,--0.--.... _,,
..,,,,t;J,Ao opposed the amendment.
/ '-'si,f "7:01 iiTiiii-,N ' ...' D said they were agreed that the
' miagistras- • - - 't. •N have a hand in the arrangement of
I
the ciiimbr,ratt4....), Hear.) Well, this he would sug- j
gest, that thiifelyh dbe a committee appointed by each
.--..

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