§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ MR. STEPHEN CAVE moved the second reading of this Bill. He said, its object was to assimilate the law relating to private oyster-beds to the law as it was laid down by the Act of last Session in regard to beds formed under that Act. By 3&4 Vict. c. 75, oyster taking from private beds was made theft, and by the 24&25 Vict. c. 96, it was made felony. It was, however, held that the thief must be taken in the very act, and that oysters were not property in the sense that they could be followed. In this way the thief almost invariably escaped punishment, and the ends into of justice were defeated. To meet this such Committee on that day six months, defect in the law provisions were inserted in the Act of last Session, making oysters the absolute property of the owners of beds, and thus converting the stealing from a statutory offence to an offence at common law, and capable, therefore, of more easy detection and punishment. These pro- 1326 visions existed in the case of companies having private Acts, such as the Herne Bay, Roach River, &c., Companies. By some oversight this part of the Act of last Session was confined to beds formed under the Act, which was a manifest injustice to owners of private beds lawfully formed previous to the Act. The owners of these beds had consequently been nearly ruined by thefts which it was impossible to prevent, and which were stimulated by the high price of oysters. The Bill simply extended the remedies under the Act of last Session to private oyster-beds. There were certain shadowy claims by individuals and corporations in the nature of manorial rights over certain oyster-beds, which were difficult to define or enforce, and were frequently disputed. It was not intended to cure defects in such titles, and therefore the operation of the Bill was limited to beds which had been exclusively worked by or under the owner for five years past. This was to be considered sufficient evidence of a perfect title. He had now explained the whole scope of the Bill, which simply carried out the principle already affirmed by Parliament in the Act of last Session and other Acts.
§ Motion agreed to.
§ Bill read a second time, and committed for Wednesday.