§ LORD NAAS moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the better regulation of Markets in Ireland. He stated that in 1852 a Commission of Inquiry on this subject travelled through the country, and visited every market town. They found in most of the small country towns a great want of accommodation for the public, and the most glaring frauds commonly practised between buyer and seller. Two Bills had since been introduced on this subject, and the present Bill somewhat resembled that of last year; though it differed from it in one important particular, inasmuch as it did not propose to deal with fairs. The reason for excepting those fairs was that they were not held so frequently as markets, that they required an extensive space, which it would be difficult to secure by enactment, and that as the business transacted thereat was confined mostly to the buying and selling of cattle, a similar opportunity for fraud did not exist; moreover, tolls had been abolished in many fairs throughout the country, and any attempt to reimpose them would be resisted by the people; it did not seem therefore, that there was the same necessity for legislation in respect of fairs as existed in the case of markets. It was now proposed to appoint a Commissioner for the regulation of markets in Ireland. The question of ownership, was, no doubt, the difficulty of the matter. It was not intended, as in the Bill of last year, to give the Commissioner power to inquire into the ownership of markets when those rights were still enforced, and which, in many cases, had been held under patent for a long series of years, and bad been made matter of family settlement; there are great objections to dealing with such questions in an arbitrary manner, or calling on the owner of the market to prove his title. The Bill provided, therefore, that the Commissioner should merely have power to see that the conditions on which the patent was held were duly performed, and that ample and convenient accommodation was provided for the public. The Bill provided that in every case in which no toll had been levied in a market for the last five years, or no right or ownership whatever had been put in force by any person, the Commissioner should have the power of inquiring into the matter, and declaring who the owner of the market should be. In such a case, he would declare that the 163 town commissioners, if there were any, should be the owners of the market in the town in which they had jurisdiction; and when no municipal authority existed, any fit and proper person whom the town should select, would be declared the proper owner. Power was also given to establish new markets where they were required, and to provide for an uniform system of weighing produce by pounds, stones, and hundredweights, as well as to fix penalties for fraud and misconduct in the market.
§ MR. H. HERBERTpromised to render assistance to the noble Lord in his endeavours to pass the Bill, which he described as a modified portion of the Bill which he himself introduced last year; but he entirely dissented from the opinion of the noble Lord, that the fairs in Ireland did not require regulation equally with markets. He was inclined to think that the fairs required regulation more than the markets. He was astonished to hear the noble Lord say that tolls were abolished all over the country. [Lord NAAS: No, no!] He so understood the noble Lord. The fact was, that tolls were nearly universal.
§ MR. W. BROWNrecommended that provision should be made for an uniform system of weights to be used in all the markets throughout the United Kingdom. He remarked, that in some towns butter was sold by one weight, hay by another, and oats by a third; the most perplexing discrepancy existed.
§ MR. M'CANNexpressed a doubt as to the powers which were to be given in some cases to enable town commissioners to levy market tolls; he hoped this subject would be delicately treated, for he would as soon have the markets in private hands as in those of the town commissioners.
Bill for the Regulation of Markets in Ireland, ordered to be brought in by Lord NAAS and Mr. ATTORNEY GENERAL for Ireland.
Bill presented, and read 1o.