Mr. Asquith next read a letter from Lord Loreburn, in
which he stated that he was alone responsible for appointing Justices. He had always regarded this duty as belonging exclusively to his office :—
"The principles on which this business has been transacted in my time were explained in my evidence before the Royal Com- mission last year. They were adopted very deliberately. I believe they are very sound, and I shall certainly adhere to them as long as I remain Chancellor, availing myself of the assistance I expect from the committees recommended by the Royal Commission."
In view of the fact that only about a dozen of the Committees had as yet actually sent in recommendations, Mr. Asquith declared that he considered a general discussion of the ques- tion as premature and unlikely to throw any light on the question, and refused to reconsider his decision when appealed
to by Mr. Primrose. He approved, however, of Mr. Ian Malcolm's suggestion that the names of the members of the
Advisory Committee should be published as a Parliamentary Paper, and promised to see if it could be carried out.
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