§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAWSON) moved the second reading of this Bill. He said, its object was to give the Irish Government similar powers to those exercised by the Privy Council in England, and to authorise a rate to be levied, out of which to give compensation for cattle ordered to be slaughtered according to the same proportion as is prescribed in the English Act.
§ Moved, "That the Bill be now read a second time."—(The Attorney General for Ireland.)
LORD NAASsaid, he wished to express his concurrence in the principle of the measure, but he wished to know whether the Bill would apply to other diseases besides the cattle plague. He thought the machinery with regard to raising money somewhat cumbrous, and that it would be better if the money were advanced by the Treasury, first of all, in the ordinary way, as in the case of lunatic asylums, and that it should be re-imbursed by a charge on the 1178 poor rates, spread over a certain number of years. He wished also to know how it was proposed to pay expenses other than those connected with the slaughter of cattle; whether the expenses were to be defrayed from the poor rate, whether it was intended to employ special constables, and whether they were to be paid differently from the ordinary constabulary of the country? The fact of the Government having taken on themselves the responsibility of the necessary measures would give the greatest satisfaction in Ireland.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAWSON)said, that the 10th section of the Bill showed clearly that the fund was intended to defray, not merely the cost of compensation to owners of cattle compulsorily slaughtered, but also the expenses of carrying the Bill into execution. The Report of December 6 of the Irish Committtee upon the Cattle Plague had been fully acted upon, inspectors had been appointed, and the utmost diligence used. The Bill was intended to be a permanent Bill, giving the Lord Lieutenant in Council the powers of 11 & 12 Vict. He did not think that any particular or large remuneration would be given to the inspectors, though small compensation would be made to veterinary surgeons. It was not intended to remunerate those connected with the constabulary. The Government had been in communication with the Poor Law Commissioners, who had suggested the scheme adopted for raising money as being the most readily put into operation. Under it, directly the Poor Law Commissioners got an order to do so, they could set apart a sum out of the money in their hands, so that there would be a fund instantly available; and the money could be refunded as the rates came in. It might, perhaps, be necessary to make it more clear that the latter sections of the Bill were intended to be applicable only to the rinderpest; and in Committee he would propose the necessary Amendments.
§ Bill read the second time.