The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-06 00:00:00

.IMPEiiIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMitIIONS, May 5.
The SPEAKER took the chair shortly before Four
o'Clock.

APPOINTMENT OF BOROUGH MAGISTRATES.
Sir JAMES GRAHAM (in continuation from our Third
Edition) said-7 he Hon. Gentleman had correctly referred
to what had taken place on the original passing of the
Municipal Bill. With respect to the statement made
by the Noble Lord, the Secretary for the Home Depart-
ment, it had been proposed, by the then Government,
to introduce into the Municipal Bill a provision
that the municipal Magistrates should not be ap-
pointed by the Crown, but elected by the town council.
The clause, containing the enactment, after full dis-
cussion—

Lord J. RUSSELL—It was not a clause, but merely
a recommendation. ,

Sir J. GRAHAM thought the provision was em-
bodied in a clause; however, it was the intention of the
framers of the Bill that the municipal Magistrates
should be elected by the town council, and not nominated
by the Crown. Did the Noble Lord dissent from that ?
Lord J. RUSSELL might be wrong, but, as far as his
recollection served him, the provision was, that no person
should be appointed by the Crown, unless recommended
by the town council.
Sir J. GRAHAM was obliged to the Noble Lord for
his correction, and he would state his case according to
the Noble Lord's conception. At the time the Bill was
brought forward, it was proposed to limit the power of
the Crown. That was the mole of nomination proposed
to Parliament, and it was rejected by the Legislature.
'the undoabted prerogative of the Crown was recog-
nised by Parliament, and the absolute power of nomi-
nation was given to it. The Noble Lord, either during
the passing of the Bill through Parliament, or immedi-
ately after, made an announcement that, notwithstand-
ing the decision of the Legislature in the way he had
stated, that in the exercise of his power as a Minister
of the Crown, he would not appoint any Magistrates
unless they received the recommendation of the town
council ; in short, that he would, by the use of the pre-
rogative of the Crown, or rather, be would say, the
straining of it, frustrate the decision of the Legislature,
and give effect to the opinion of the town councils. Now,
the Noble Lord having established the rule, it was of
the last importance that he should abide by it. Now lie
(Sir James Graham) would just advert to one or
two cases of appointments by the Noble Lord, in order
to show how strictly the Noble Lord had adhered to
the rule which he laid down of not appointing any per-
sons except those recommended by the town council.
The first -case to which he would call the attention of
the House was that of Bridport. The town council
there were very much divided in politics, but they agreed
in recommending to the Noble Lord a mixed Cotumis-
sion of the Peace. But the Noble Lord if he (Sir Jamas
Graham) mistook not, set aside the recommendation and
appointed five gentlemen attached to the party now on
the Opposition benches of the House, and one of the
principles of the party now on that (the Ministerial)side,
—(Cheers.) However, that was a case which might
appear not very strong. But he would now bring the
attention of the House to the case of the borough
of Hastings. In that •borough the town council had re-
peatedly recommended one gentleman, residing in Hast-
ings, as a person quite fit to fill the office of one of the
town Magistrates. Now, the Noble Lord repeatedly set
aside that nomination.—(Cheers from the Tories.) But
it might be said that in that case, there was some par-
ticular reason wiiy the Noble Lord had thought it his
duty as the responsible advistr or the Crown to make that
case an exception to his own general rule, and not to act
upon the recommendation of the town council. But let
him now mention another case, that of Bristol.—(Cheers.)
In that city, at the first election which took place under
the Municipal Reform Act, the parties in the town coun-
cil stood in this relative position :—there were 24 Conser-
vatives, and 20 of the opposite party. Both parties, for
the sake of peace, came to the determination that they
should recommend an equal number on both sides, twelve
Whig-Radicals, and twelve Conservatives. Let the
House remember the doctrine of the Noble Lord, that
they should have in the municipalities important tribu-
nals, Magistrates above the influence of party-feeeling,
and that the local administration ofjustice should neither
be violated nor suspected.—(Hear, hear.) It had been
said that he (Sir J. Graham) had been compelled by his
Conservative supporters to swamp their opponents, and
to reward and strengthen his partisans, by giving
them seats on the Magisterial bench. Let them
take the conduct of those Conservatives in the
Bristol town council. The Conservative majority was
predominant, and very predominant, and what did they
do ?—(Hear, hear.) They had a majority, and they
knew that the Noble Lord was bound by his promise to
abide by the recommendation of the majority ?—(Hear,
hear.) Did they take advantage of their superior posi-
tion ? No ; but for the sake of harmony they agreed to
recommend twelve Magistrates on each side.—(Hear,
hear.) But what did the Noble Lord do ? He took the
twelve recommended by the Whig-Radical Ministry, and
six of those recommended by the majority, rejecting six
from the list of that majority.—(Tory cheers.) Amongst
those rejected was Mr. Daniel—(Hear, hear)—who was
at the head of the Conservative party in Bristol—(Hear,
hear)—a man of large property and of unblemished re-
putation, and possessing the confidence of his fellow-
citizens. He was rejected on account of his alleged ill
health, but from sue to the present day he had enjoyed
invariable good health, and shamed the weak pretence—
(Great Tory cheering)---and he (Sir J. Graham) had
had the honour of placing him at the head of the Con-
servative Magistracy ; but not for the same alphabetical
reason which guided him in the case of Dr. Al-
derson, but, on account of his station and character.
Allow him now to bring under the consideration of the
House the case of Poole. In the spring of 1836, it being
understood that Lord John Russell would adopt the re-
commendation of town councils throughout the kingdom,
sent in the following list to the Home-office. He would
not read the names now. Now the Noble Lord, one
would imagine, would have exercised some discretion,
and would have taken some and rejected others who
were recommended
the town council. The whole
six recommended by the town coli:ica of Poole were
thatre-
re-
jected by the Noble Lord, and he subs-4J
list another list of names. He appointed, he
ir
Ia the
tuted_for,
rims
.r
Graham) thought, seven Magistrates, and ...9" d
House believe it, notwithstanding the recommendat,..."
of the town council, who recommended Conservatives,
ono of them only was connected with the Conservatives.
Now, in the first place, he was most atialoue to assure
the House, that he viewed with extreme regret the tin.
cessity of inquiry into the political opinions of municipal
powers connected with the administration of justice.
He saw as strongly as any Gentlemen • opposite the
great misfortune that justice should be 80 con-
nected with party politics. But that wag not
the case with which he had to deal. He
shad
to deal with municipal Magistrates, steeped up
to their necks in party politics—(Hear, hear)—and
it was not for him to determine should this Magistracy
be so deteriorated, but finding it so, should he with
firmness and moderation apply a corrective.—(Hear.)
He conceived that with the honest purpose of avoiding
undue temptation on the part of the Magistracy to inter-
fere with party politics, there were two classes of per-
sons whom lie thought should not be appointed—those
were practising attorneys and brewers.—(Hoar, hear.)
The late Government made no such exceptions in their
appointments—they
appointed both brewers and pra.c-
using attorneys. Notwithstanding the practice had been
so extensive he (Sir James graham) was not afraid to

apply the corrective generally—and he had applied
generally.—(Hear.) On the other side practising atter'
neys and brewers had been very generally appointed;
but be (Sir James Graham) was not aware tieat there
was to be found on the whole of his list one prtectising
attoreey, one brewer, or ono beneficed clergyman;
He had stated that the Noble Lord had not very striet4
adhered to his own rule in regard to making appoint'
ments from those recommended by the town councilg,
He wished now to bring under the notice of the House
what was very remarkable, that when Conservatives
were appointed a very curious selection was made ill
many instances. Conservatives' were, it was true, ,
pointed in some instances, but in many cases—it wile'
be tedious to go through the whole list—in many cases
gentlemen of Conservative opinions were appointed I'M
either had positively informed the Noble Lord that the/
would not act, or who had made a statement to thst,
effect through their agents, or, as was the case in severs'
instances, who were from particular circumstances dis:,
qualified from voting. He might illustrate that by severe'
examples ; but he did not think he could find any case
which would make his assertion more clear to the leouSe,
than the case of Norwich. In the year 1837 he found
that six additional names were selected by the too,
council of Norwich to be added to the commission of
the peace ; three of these were Whigs, and three were
Conservatives. These six were approved of 11
the Government ; but while the three Whigt
were active men, in the prime of life, two of
the Conservatives were extremely aged, and the
third was paralytic. At another period he found thee
were 19 Magistrates appointed, 13 of whom were Whig
able to act on the bench, while of the six Conservative
two could not act, one was unable to walk, and of the re
mining three, one was 86 years of age, another was
and the third was 75.—(Hear.) It would be tedious tot
go through details on the subject ; but still •it was las'
duty to bring under the notice of the House, in a cote;
pendious form, the general results of the proceedingsf,
the Noble Lord, as contrasted with his proceedings. Tny,
Hon. Gentleman said, that the object of the Noble Lon
had been to select not from any party exclusively. 1401
believed the Ilon. Gentleman even went the length ,
saying that the Noble Lord had succeeded tolerably we'
He would read to the House some specimens of that sat
cess. The Magistrates appointed in Bath were twelve',
of those nine were Whig-Radicals and two Conservative
In Burnley thirty-three Magistrates, of whom twentt
seven were Whigs and six Conservatives. Boston n 7,
Magistrates, all Whig-Radicals. Carlisle ten Magistraton
all of the same party. Coventry twelve Magistrates, of
Whig-Radical. Tcnby four Magistrates, Whig-Radict
Derby, eight Magistrates, Whig-Radical. Dartmouth'`
six Magistrates, all of the same party. Flint, eight M
gistrates ; Grimsby, seven, all Whig-Radicals. In lid
verpool thirty-one Magistrates had been appointed, „i
whom twenty-five were Whig-Radicals, and only
Conservatives. Newcastle-upon-Tyne sixteen MS g"'
trates, of whom thirteen were Whigs and only iltrr
Conservatives. In Poole, which he had mentioned beil
fore, there were nine Magistrates, of whom eight -Oa.
Whigs and one Conservative. Portsmouth, fortunate
being represented by the then Chancelhir of the ExcV
quer, had eleven Magistrates appointed, all, without of
ception, supporters of the late Government.. „In Ric
mond, Yorkshire, there had been four Magistrates apt
pointed, all Whig-Radicals. Stockport, twelve Mae
trates, all of the same party. Sunderland, ten Ma;
trates, all Whig-Radicals: and that brought him tot,
question of Gateshead. There were two or three toLvv
in the county of Durham, having each municipal P,;
gistrates—Stockton, Sunderland, and Gateshead. t`'
aggregate number of Magistrates in which amounted to
,
he thought, about twenty. In Stockton there were Orr
in Sunderland ten, and in Gateshead six, that was nig_
teen in all. Of all those municipal Magistrates of a'
county of Durham, one only was Conservenive; the
Magistrates of Stockton being all Whig-kladical,
ten Magistrates of Sunderland, all, without exception
of the same party, and of. the six in Gatestlseadaen
being a Conservative. And now he was cornolanL
against in his place in Parliament for having advisL'd Irn
Crown to temper this state of things With moderat;°,,'
—(Hear, hear.) Because he had endeavoured to P/ Tie
throw a tyranny of this deSeription, by which, notl
the forms of justice, Justice herself was prestitute°ia
"„
(Hear, hear, and cheers)—by a fair exercise of the P',
rogative of the Crown ! Let us have done with tr it;
pery motions of this description,; let the Hem Geat
man raise the question fully and fairly beforethe Hensel(
let him' appeal to its decision; and let the House it.se,
pronounce whether or not he had discharged aedutl tell%
perative on him.—(Hear, hear.) He had not yet est
!misted the list, and would proceed to Tiverton, "t;
five Magistrates were appointed, all Whig-Rtralie
at Totnes, four appointed, all Whigs ; at Walsall, 'te
appointed, six Whig-Radicals, one Conservative ;
Wigan, fourteen appointed, thirteen Whigs, one Cons' e
vative ; at 'Worcester, nine appointed, eight Virklts.
Radicals, one Conservative ; at Yarmouth, of ninete`o
appointed, eighteen were Whig-Radicals, and tee.
Conservative. At Kidderminster it had been stt!dee
that the Noble Lord appointed three of one °Ey
and three of the other ; but it was singular that shor
afterwards, one of the Conservatives died, and the
Lord filled up the vacancy with two Whig's !—(lls1
hear.) And what was the Whole state of the rnuniaelaa
"
Magistracy, when he acceded to office ? Omittine"t,loll
seven Magistrates from thirteen places, where he
not added to that Bench, and which, therefore, were ll
included in the list, the whole number of the Magistri ~e
was 1,026 Magistrates, nominated by the Whig G°Y.ey'ese
merit, of whom 743 were Whigs, and 226 Conserva" he
That was the proportion he had to deal with,wite,nycee,
came into office ; the appointments themseitiv,oh did
cavilled at by the H '
Hon. Gentleman •• individually ""°
not complain of the, selection, but he rested .his eOO
plaint on general grounds. The gross number had b °
01,
increased from 1,02 G to 1,435. The House would ree 5,
lect that he had been accused of yielding to undue Prev
sure in his exclusion of particular names, but in Wald
stance did he displace a name from the list which Pe,.
been left by his predecessor. Ile had received contra%
cations on the subject, but he always answered, Aliati:if
march of the Government would be unste 4
if he removed those names which bad int
left by his predecessor. He did not think sl
would be safe to enter into the question of indiviun,as
character; and he therefore did not remove a single nels
from the list.—(Hear.) The entire number now wa/
1,435, and yet he was accused of swamping the Moro
tracy. He denied the conversation attributed to bes
with the gentlemen of Devonport. If the Hon. Memos
had it from any person who was present on the .00,3;1
his recollection might be more accurate than his (Sir
Graham), but, speaking from his recollection, ho
say he was misinformed on the subject. But so far 60;01
wishing to invert the balance of parties—though in. a°oll
cases that was the case—(Cheers)—the general i'eof,
was that whereas the proportion before was 743 to ad
the proportion at present was, Whig-Radicals 74.5, foe
Conservatives 629.—(Cheers.) He would, there pot
• appeal with confidence to the House that leo 1'45101
seeking to swamp any party.—(Cheers.) B at he eret
ready to vindicate his conduct on special er gexcleil
grounds. It was asked from what source he ieriv,e, bat
information. He did not apply to the town c. ninct) to
he was responsible for the advice he had give u, aog
the best of his belief he had not made any ,objeede
to individuals, except on the justest -IEII4I the
He could say that lie derived his information o 5_40)
character of individuals from the highest qeartat -e esetn
gentlemen of honour and integrity, on whose n 'Pirtjess
tations he could depend, and on whose recommtea ";1000
he acted.—(Cheers.) But he would now let time i,ete
hear in what way the Noble Lord, the Member ter nog
don, when Secretary of State, obtained his inf. 031ne,
with regard to the character, age, and to the ids Ifl
of those whom he appointed to the Magistracy to
Buckinghamshire newspaper would be found a no tic er•
correspondents, which bore date January, 1836.
was there a letter, dated " Reform Association, 3, t
land-row, 24th of January, 1836," signed "James ]add'
pock," and directed to James Bowles, Esq., yr' jet'
sor. He would read to the House that at'
ter :—" Will you have the goodness to ,the
form me by an early coach to-morrow morning, 0 t•°
professions or trades, and politics of the following gentietefd
Windsor—W. Lee, R. Blunt, R. Pigot, E. Bovende.n,tpd
J. Chapman. I shall feel much obliged by your attention ;10
reply. Yours, James Coppock." The answer bore date as
29th of January. Mr. Bowles began by apologising PI
delay, which he stated was caused by his having been able„ of
and the letter continued thus—.. I now beg to forward fl;
the information you require. W. Lee, biewer,,Librs';ot
Blunt, saddler, always supported the dovernnient, au'l ~ r •
for Ramsbottom; R. Pigot, the like ; E. Bovendena Pee/ •
man, and Liberal ; Sir J. Chapman, surgeon, High :"42Strie°
(Laughter.) Now he found in the records of the H 0 ,ewer'
the appointments en Ist of February, of W. Lee, tp.,43,5 eur
L-
and the Liberal ; of R. Blunt, the saddler, who of ti'
ported Ramsbottom ; of E. Bovenden, the Libergil.„.enel'°
Pigot, the like; and at last of Sir J. Chapman,,for de
highs
indeed, have been deceived—he might have been. noferaa.
sake, although he was a High Tory.
to
—the"Cruogwhnrei. ) totem
recommendedist ra
in the appointments which he had made ; but as yet to
tmhaeninwuhnoimciphale IDiaidag
Magistracy had teoe n convictedt"of6ettlaascali.s
(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," from the Ministerial lieue,hpes,
He was not the Secretary of State who had meow:emote° 4-010
Frost to fill the office of Magistrate.—(Cheers.) 136,1°00'
not add one word in reference to the Hon. Gentlem an' 00
tion. He would only say that he wished him joy oft he sP
which he bad made on that subject.—( Cheers. )
O •
Mr. FOX 111AULE--Having occupied the official ssita At d
he did in the Right Hon. Gentleman's office during 31,"?..er
the period referred to by him, must be his excuse for Ada the
ing the House. On the present occasion he addr.wee44o
House under considerable disadvantage, as he had not sCre,
to the documents the Right Hon. Gentleman had. There !e
e 0
however, some points in the Right Hon. Gesitleman's °riot
which he thought he could give a satisfactory explanat ton er
before, however, alluding to them, the House would' Pea'
haps, allow him to say that he thought the Right 1i0r,,.000
tleman might hare answered the speech of his Hone r",
with a little more calmness and temper. He coma u°„"f rig
what neceerdty there was fur alluding to the position Las he
Hon. Friend in an Election Committee. He t houg"wite
would have been more likely to have carried the 1 subli,_e
him in his defence, if he had abstained from any' such -JO'
sws-is. The Right HON, Baronet might have draw in sane, bin
li„,ioh between his ems friend's
and the po,Lition °lftitt
Noble Frieb..."*
the Act of d which alsolished rig
parliament ;)'!"!e s
His Noble eeriend's position was' this : Poe
old Magistrates •in
Magistrates. The
rejected
by
the
4.00 s
to the Cone'''.
the neunscipal towns, it woe
duty to advise the Crown
asTlr clause &_ivi.rseg
,o.,f3tetheto mtuhnelci
Lords, and when the Bill, • with that cla:ise struck out, oter
le Friend, to f, sa,
doeti to the House of Commons, his Nob.
'e
ot
pCalrowl‘niag
to induce the House to accept the Bill, stated
th4Vcretarl
power of the Croitti was patamount, yet he, as s t,
State, might modify it. They ought to appoint u.'`. to
minister justice, in whom parties to whom they -Fels% 0. ;I
minister justice entertained entire confidence. a 'et In ,
could say that in the selection the Right Hon. Banee., tog
made, in Listening to the recommendations generally el ,t7,;40 0
1,
councils, that he had failed to follow a just and right Pr if
It was not so, if it was not just. why leave it to therrenog
iI
was not just, why did the Government snbmit to the ne'eneet,
she Scotch Reform Act, which gave to the municipsetreree
the election of municipal Magistrates without the lilt
sr f;
of the Crown, which system any Scotchman in that Hou_,. or If
tell them worked well, and of which there had bees,i, u`tiasil
plaint? Why did they continue that system in e°siettt ef
it was so obnoxious in England? If it was so obnfoiseg
England, why did, they nut interfere in the g°

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