THE Corrupt and Illegal Practices 1883, ALPHABETICALLY RENDERED; WITH NOTES AND REFERENCES TO THE STATUTES BEARING ON THE LAW AGAINST CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS. BY W. CUNNINGHAM GLEN, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. LONDON: SHAW & SONS, FETTER LANE AND CRANE COURT, E.C., PREFACE. Ir may be said that since the First of King Henry the Fifth, if not since the Heptarchy, "Bribery and Corruption" have prevailed at Parliamentary Elections to a scandalous extent. The inquiries held after the general election of 1880 disclosed so great a scandal and blot upon our system of political representation, that Mr. Gladstone's Government was compelled to take the matter up and endeavour to provide a remedy. His attempt at legislation on the subject in 1882 failed to receive the assent of Parliament, but the measure of that year was re-introduced under the auspices of the AttorneyGeneral, Sir Henry James, on much the sames lines as the Bill of 1882, and has resulted in the passing of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1883; an Act so stringent that it is difficult to imagine that any one will in the future either bribe or be bribed, or be guilty of any of the corrupt practices for the suppression of which the Act was passed. Having edited the Representation of the People Act, 1867, and the Ballot Act, 1872, as well as the Par a 2 liamentary and Municipal Registration Acts, of which several editions have been issued, it is fitting that I should add to them a work on the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1883. I have rendered the Statutes in an Alphabetical form, so that any one using this work may on the instant find the information of which he is in need. In such notes as are appended to the sections no attempt to criticise the Act has been made, but the production of a practically useful work aimed at, and I hope the result will show that my effort has not been in vain. W. C. G. 3, ELM-COURT, TEMPLE, 5th January, 1884. |