§ MR. CANDLISHsaid, he wished to ask the Vice President of the Board of Trade, If he will lay his intended Bill for the amendment and consolidation of the Merchant Shipping Acts upon the 1853 Table of the House before the close of the Session, that the Country may have an opportunity of considering its provisions before the meeting of the next Parliament?
§ MR. STEPHEN CAVEsaid, in reply, that, when it became evident that there was no chance of passing this Bill during the present Session, the draughtsman was directed to employ himself on work of greater emergency; and therefore the consolidation of the Merchant Shipping Acts was not proceeded with with as much rapidity as before. He hoped, however, to lay the Bill on the table before the end of the Session, and to distribute it to Members sufficiently early for those who were interested in the question to express an opinion upon it in ample time before the meeting of the next Parliament.