THE DUKE OF ST. ALBANS' BILL.
[TO THE EDITOR, OF THE " SPECTATOR." J
SIR,—From some remarks in your last number on the fate of the Duke of St. Albans' Bill, it would appear that you have -overlooked one of the provisions of the present law respecting the qualification required for a Justice of the Peace.
It is enacted by the 38 and 39 Vic., cap. 54, that any person who has for two years rented a house at not less than £100 a year, is qualified for the Commission of the Peace in the • county wherein the house is situated. It is not, therefore, the fact that the possession of landed property is an indispensable, though no doubt it is the usual, qualification for, a County Magistrate, I know myself more than one instance in my own county of an appointment under the meal statute I have quoted. As 'Chairman of Quarter-Sessions, I can bear witness to their 'excellence.—I am, Sir, &c.,
House of Commons, March 11th. G. W. HASTINGS.
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