§
MR. RITCHIE rose to make a personal explanation. The noble Lord the President of the Board of Trade (Viscount Sandon) was reported in The Times to have said—
The hon. Member for the Tower Hamlets, who spoke for a large consuming and working population, represented them as being warmly in favour of the Bill.
The noble Lord, if he were correctly reported, had put words into his mouth which he did not use. With reference to his constituents, he said nothing about them, the fact being that he had not heard from them either one way or the other. What he did say was, that he should vote for the second reading because the Bill contained provisions for the internal movement of cattle, which would tend to stamp out the foot-and-mouth disease, and so increase the supply of food for the people, provided there were not other clauses introduced which would neutralize those beneficial regulations. He also said that he considered the clause for slaughtering all
332
animals at the port of debarkation too severe, and gave Notice that he should in Committee move a clause exempting Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal from the operation of the Bill.
§ MR. SPEAKERstopped the hon. Gentleman from making further remarks, on the ground that his speech was exceeding the limits of a personal explanation.