S E L E C T C O M M I T T E E O N F I C T I T I O U S V O T E S , I R E L A N D . 175 / side those that had a less qualification than upon the other ?— He did not seem Mr. James Ternan to me to inquire so minutely into it upon the other side. 10915. Did not he inquire from every Conservative voter that came up, upon 22 May 1838. his oath, whether he could get from a good and solvent tenant 10?. over and above what he paid; did he ever withhold the application of that test from a Conservative voter ?— I do not think he did; but the opposition was not great upon our side in any instance ; the general feeling upon the Liberal side was not to oppose those that they thought had value, and there was very little opposition given upon the Liberal side. 10916. Will you state, as accurately as you can, how it was that this par- tiality of Mr. Fosberry was exhibited in the admission or rejection of voters, that being the test that he applied to all ?— They were better prepared with evidence on the Conservative side than they were on the Liberal; they examined a great many more witnesses, and perhaps it was owing to that; it struck me that he allowed them to go lengths that he did not allow others on the opposite side. 10917. Can you specify any instance of what you mean by going lengths? — The opposition on the Conservative side to the Liberal claims was much greater, from the number of witnesses examined against them; in some cases I have seen five, six, or seven witnesses examined against a claimant, and on the Liberal side I have never seen more than one, or two, or three examined in favour; and Mr. Fosberry, when there was a greater number of witnesses exa- mined against than for a claimant, generally dismissed the claimant; he did not admit him. 10918. Then he gave more weight to the greater number of witnesses than to the fewer ?— Fie did ; no matter how clearly it used to be made out, in many cases, by the evidence of the claimant and two or three supporters, when there was more evidence on the other side, he took the view to which the greater number were examined, and dismissed the claimant. 10919. Mr. O'Connell.] By more evidence, you mean a greater number of witnesses ?— Yes. 10Q20. Mr. Lefroy.] Did he ever refuse to receive any witnesses that they had to tender in support of the claimants ?— I do not think he did. 10921. Then the account you give now of his partiality is, that in general he gave weight to the greater number of witnesses rather than to the fewer ?— Yes ; and those witnesses could not he so good judges of the value of the land as the claimant and the persons that came to support him, inasmuch as many of them lived miles away from the farm. In some instances it happened that persons came up to give evidence against the claimant that had not been upon the land for seven or eight years. 10922. All those circumstances were before Mr. Fosberry?— Yes. 10923. He did not come to precisely the same conclusion as you did upon the weight of evidence ?— No. 10924. And because he did not you think his judgment was partial ?— Yes ; I think that the claimant's evidence ought to have taken precedence of the evi- dence of those that lived at a greater distance, and could not be so well acquainted with the lands. 10925. You state that no fictitious votes could have been placed upon the register on behalf of the Liberal interest ?— There might have been some, but in very few instances. 10926. Do you think there were any ?— My impression is that there were not. 10927. Do you think that on the Longford register at this moment there are no fictitious votes ?— I think there are some. There are a great many registries since that, which I did not attend. 10928. You have no doubt that there are names upon the register of persons who have long since lost their qualification ?— 1 think there are. 10929. On both sides ?— I think there are. 10930. And that therefore it must be very desirable to have a review of the register ?— Yes, I think it would be desirable. 10931. Would it not be a measure of justice to the fair constituency, under such circumstances, that there should be a review of the register ?— I think it would be useful. . 10932. Do not you think it would be a measure of justice towards the fair constituents ?— Yes, if it would be useful it would be just. 643. A A 4 10933- Is