§ SIR JOSEPH M'KENNAasked Mr. Attorney General, Whether his attention has been called to the ruling of Mr. Baron Dowse in the Exchequer Division of the Irish Law Courts, on Friday last, in the case of Shaw v. Kelvey, and to the observations of that learned judge to the effect that a recent judgment affecting the acceptance of bills of exchange delivered by Mr. Justice Grove and Mr. Justice Denman, had revolutionized his, Baron Dowse's, ideas, and those of everyone else on the subject of what constituted a valid acceptance; and whether Her Majesty's Government will assist in passing rapidly through both Houses of Parliament the requisite amending Bill?
THE ATTORNEY GENERALSir, my attention has been called to the ruling of Mr. Baron Dowse, and I have been much struck with the fact that appears from the observations of the learned Judge—namely, that on the subject of what constitutes a valid acceptance of a bill of exchange, he is not only familiar with his own ideas, but also with the ideas of everybody else. No doubt, according to the law as declared by Mr. Justice Grove and Mr. Justice Denman, many bills of exchange have been accepted in a manner which is not valid. The question is one of considerable importance in a commercial community, and a Bill has been introduced to meet the difficulty, and the Government will use all their efforts to secure the passing of it as speedily as possible.