§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACHasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Whether, in view of the great advantage in making legislation on the 1329 subject of Agricultural Compensation clear and intelligible to the public, he will consent to commit the Agricultural Holdings (England) Bill pro forma, in order to insert in the measure all those provisions of the Act of 1875 which it is now proposed to incorporate by way of reference only, and to repeal the remainder of that Act?
§ SIR ALEXANDER GORDONasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, If he has considered that, as at present arranged, there will be no possibility of amending the county court procedure sections of "The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1875," about twenty-seven in number, while the new Agricultural Bill, in which they are to be incorporated, is passing through the House; and, if he will act upon the suggestion of the honourable Member for East Gloucestershire to embody in the new Bill those sections of the Act of 1875 which are to form part of the new Act?
§ MR. DODSON, in reply, said, that Her Majesty's Government had purposely deferred the Bill to a day on which they hoped and intended to proceed with it; and he should be sorry to lose the time that would be involved by re-committing the Bill pro formâ, and re-printing it. All that the right hon. Baronet required could he effected when the Bill was in Committee, or at a subsequent stage; and Notice had been given by the hon. Member for East Sussex (Mr. Gregory) to insert in the Bill in Committee the provisions of the Act of 1875, instead of only referring to them. The Government were quite sensible of the advantage of embodying the law in one Act, so that they were not at all averse on principle to the suggestion of the right hon. Baronet; and he might add they were exceedingly desirous, on this as on other matters, to consult as far as possible the wishes of the House; but they must reserve their judgment as to the expediency of adopting this course, or as to the time and mode of giving effect to it, if adopted, until they had made further progress with the Bill. This would also be his Answer to the Question put by the hon. and gallant Member for East Aberdeenshire (Sir Alexander Gordon).