A very hasty Corrupt Practices Bill has been pushed through
Parliament. In the main, it is only a continuance Bill, but at the last moment, the Government have added to it a provision for requiring two Judges to sit on every election petition, accord- ing to the recommendation of the Committee of 187ti,—a re- commendation which they had sedulously neglected, till this con- tinuance Bill became necessary. The two judges, it is now de. tormined, must agree in every decision, otherwise there will be no decision, and matters will remain in auk& quo. At first it had been intended that if the two judges differed, the view of the senior judge should take effect. But this very raw proposal has been withdrawn ; so the addition of a second judge will have the effect of neutralising not unfrequently the decision of the first judge, and leaving the matter at issue, at issue still.
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