THE LAW RELATING TO CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS. WE purpose treating of the law relating to corrupt and illegal practices at elections; first, with reference to the effect of corrupt and illegal acts upon the Seat, and, secondly, with reference to their consequences to Individuals. PART I. THE FORFEITURE OF THE SEAT. An election, upon petition, is avoided and the seat forfeited by: I. Any corrupt act committed by the sitting member or any one of his agents, or by- II. Any of the illegal practices enacted by Sections 7 and 28 of the Act of 1883, whether committed by the sitting member or any one of his agents, or by— III. Any illegal practice enacted by the Act of 1883, committed by the sitting member, or by his election agent, or by IV. The employment of an agent convicted of or reported for corrupt practices by the candidate personally, or by V. General corruption by whomsoever committed, subject in certain cases to the possibility of relief under Section 22, 23, or 34 of the Act of 1883. CHAPTER I. CORRUPT PRACTICES. CORRUPT PRACTICES are expressly defined by the Act of 1883. Section 3 is as follows: "The expression, 'corrupt practice,' as used in this Act, means any of the following offences, namely: Treating and undue influence, as defined by this Act, and bribery, and personation as defined by the enactments set forth in Part 3 of the 3rd Schedule to this Act, and aiding and abetting, counselling and procuring the commission of the offence of personation, and every offence which is a corrupt practice within the meaning of this Act shall be a corrupt practice within the meaning of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 1868." And Section 33 of the Act of 1883 makes it a corrupt practice knowingly to make a false declaration accompanying the return of election expenses. Therefore, under the first head of corrupt practices, it appears that an election is defeated and the sitting member loses his seat if he is guilty of any of the following acts, viz., either 1. BRIBERY; 2. TREATING ; 3. UNDUE INFLUENCE; 4. PERSONATION AND AIDING, ABETTING, COUNSELLING, AND PROCURING THE COMMISSION OF PERSONATION; 5. A FALSE DECLARATION; whether any one of these corrupt acts is committed by him personally, or by anyone whom the law construes as his agent for the purposes of the election. It is proposed, in the first instance, to examine the authorities as to what constitutes the offences named, and then to discuss the meaning which has been given to the word "agent" in this connection. SECTION I.-BRIBERY. The Act of 1883 contains no new definition of bribery. On the contrary, Section 3, already quoted, expressly incorporates the definitions of bribery contained in former Corrupt Practices Prevention Acts into the Act of 1883, and in the third schedule of the Act those definitions are set out in detail. It is necessary that in this place we should give Statutory their full text. Section 2 of the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, 1854 (the 17 & 18 Vic. c. 102), provides: "The following persons shall be deemed guilty of bribery, and shall be punishable accordingly— definitions of bribery. 17 & 18 Vic. c. 102, s. 2. "1. Every person who shall, directly or indirectly, by him- Sub-sec. 1. self or by any other person on his behalf, give, lend, or agree to give or lend, or shall offer, promise, or "2 Every person who shall, directly or indirectly, by him- Sub-sec. 2. "3. Every person who shall, directly or indirectly, by him- Sub-sec. 3. self or by any other person on his behalf, make any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement, or |