In the Commons on Monday afternoon the Prime Minister made
his promised statement on the appointment of Justices of the Peace. In a general reply, he noted that the questions mainly relattd to the Advisory Committees, which were unani- mously recommended, on the suggestion of the Lord Chancellor himself, by the Royal Commission which had exhaustively in- quired into the matter and reported last July. As a result, thirty- six Committees had been appointed in England, Scotland and Wales, and when arrangements now proceeding were com- pleted by next August, sixty-seven Committees would be set up. The course adopted was to set up Committees as and when the Lord Chancellor was informed by local justices that more J.P.'s were wanted for any county, and it went without saying that the Lord Chancellor would see that they were fairly and properly constituted and of a representative character. This statement having excited derisive laughter from some Ministerialists. Mr. Asquith repeated it with emphasis. There was, he added, no secret as to the names of members of the Committees which would be available for local publication. The Committee would consider any names they thought fit for the Commission of the Peace, and the Lord Chancellor did not propose to recommend names to them, but would, if convenient, transmit suggestions without comment.
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