23 DECEMBER 1911, Page 16

A TEST FOR MAGISTRATES.

[To TER EDITOR OF THR "SPECTATOR.")

SIR,—It might possibly remove some of the Chancellor's difficulties in the appointment of magistrates and solve Mr. Neil Primrose's grievances if all nominees, by whomsoever suggested, were subjected to an examination, not competitive, but such in a mild form as barristers and solicitors have to pass before entering their professions, special attention being paid to the law of evidence. It is not given even to a good man to judge rightly by instinct.—I am, Sir, &c., X.