S E L E C T C O M M I T T E E ON F I C T I T I O U S V O T E S , I R E L A N D . 36, ' SLS from the landlord laying- his counterpart of the lease before a legal person as if he had produced it in open court. ' 14512. Chairman.] The party whose interest would be benefited by discover- ing a flaw in the lease, would be the landlord; and he, having the counterpart in his possession, has always the means of detecting those errors, if they exist ~ I should think so. 14513. The public, as the public, have no interest in detecting deficiencies or errors in the title, except so far as the registry is concerned; and to that extent they have a right to the knowledge; but so far as the private interests of the party are concerned, it is the landlord alone that would have an advantage in detecting errors; and that detection he can make by a document in his own possession ?— Yes. 14514. Mr. Litton.'] It is the landlord, in every case, that would receive the benefit from taking proceedings for a breach of covenant, or looking at the penal covenants in the lease ?— Yes. 14515. Mr. French.] Might there not be penal covenants on which the tenants might be very much harassed. Have not you heard, for instance, of men being obliged to have size in the whitewash they use in their houses, and being liable to a penalty for not having size ?— I never heard of it. 14516. Mr. Litton.] Were those three claimants all produced upon the Liberal side ?— They were, all. 14517. And all objected to, upon the grounds you have stated, by the Con- servative party ?— Yes. 14518. And all admitted?— Yes. 14519. Were there any cases of a similar kind, with respect to Conservatives? — I never knew of one instance of the kind that occurred ; none, certainly, at the registries at which I was present. 14520. Mr. French.) You reported all the cases 011 both sides?— Yes, on both sides. The first sessions I have not, for I was not engaged by the Registry Association; and I was merely induced, I will not say for amusement, if not for instruction, to take notes at that sessions. 14521. Mr. Litton.] Your family connexions are in that county?— I am a freeholder of the county. 14522. And you take an interest in the county?— I do. 14523. Mr. Serjeant Jackson.) Besides which, as a barrister, you were im- proving yourself by attending to the points arising in the decisions ?— That was my object at the first sessions. 14524. It is not an unusual exercise of junior barristers to attend cases in different courts, and to make notes of the decisions ?— Quite the contrary; it is a very usual practice. 14525. And in so doing you took impartially notes of the cases 011 both sides? •— Of course, impartially. 14526. It made no difference to your object on which side the points arose ?— Certainly; my instructions were from the Registry Association to take accurate notes of all cases. 14527. But before you were engaged by the Registry Association, you could have no object in making any selection of cases 011 one side, or cases 011 the other ?— Certainly not; it was my object to have them as accurate as possible. 14528. Mr. French.) Was there an instance in which the barrister admitted improperly a person claiming to register upon the Conservative side ?— Yes. 14529. What was the name of the voter?— Denis Summers; he was regis- tered at the sessions of October 1837; he claimed as a 1 o I. freeholder; he • stated that he was more than six months in possession of his holding, and that his holding generally was worth 10 I. above his rent; upon his examination by Mr. Daly, for the Liberal party, he stated that he paid 3 L 4 8 ( L rent' ^ at lie had three houses let at 8 I. 17 s. a year; that he lived in another house himself, and he stated that the house in which he lived was well worth 7 /. a year, but would not go further. Mr. Daly for the Liberal party objected, that, as this applicant did not occupy a portion of his premises of the value of 10 /. above his rent, he was not entitled to be registered; the objection was overruled, and the applicant was admitted. . 14530. Mr. Serjeant Jackson.) Had he land in his own occupation as well as his house ?— Nothing: but the houses; 110 land whatever. 14531. I hen E. M. Kelly, Esq. 29 June 1838. 643- 3 A 3