§ SIR WILFRID LAWSONasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether he will arrange to introduce his Irish Licensing Act Amendment Bill at an hour when it can be fully discussed, seeing that the honourable Member for Oxford has given Notice of an Amendment calculated to raise a Debate on the whole Licensing system?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON,in reply, said, he feared it would be impossible that his Motion could come on in time to enable the House to have a full discussion of the subject, and he would ask the hon. and learned Gentleman (Mr. Harcourt) to re-consider his intention to raise the whole question of Licensing upon the Motion. Certain practical defects had been found in the working of the Licensing Act in Ireland which did not in any way touch the principle of the measure, and it was extremely desirable to remedy those defects; but if the Bill for this purpose was to be made the means of re-opening the whole policy of the Licensing Acts, he feared he should have no opportunity of proceeding with it.
§ MR. VERNON HARCOURTsaid, if the Government would give him any other opportunity of raising the question of amending the English Licensing Act, he should be very happy to give the noble Marquess every facility for proceeding with the Bill; but if they could 1416 not hold out any hope of that kind, he was afraid he must persist in raising that question on the Motion of which the noble Marquess had given Notice.