§ Order for Third READING read.
§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR, in moving that the Bill be now read a third time, said, he wished to state, in reference to the opposition of the hon. Member for Preston (Mr. Tomlinson), that in deference to that hon. Member, and to the hon. Member for Liverpool (Mr. Whitley), he had postponed the third reading from the last Sitting of the House before the Recess until today, because they objected to taking the third reading without the Bill having been reprinted. He was anxious to meet their wishes in that respect, and also to consult the authorities of the House, from whom he learnt that it was unusual to have a small Bill like this reprinted after Amendments in Committee, and that it would be altogether unprecedented for him to move to have it reprinted. The Bill itself was a very small measure, and the alterations in it were quite consequential. There was nothing debateable in any of the new clauses; and he thought they generally met the opinions of the most authoritative Members on the subject. He believed they had the approval of the Solicitor General and other learned Members who were interested in the matter; and, under those circumstances, he appealed to the hon. Member for Preston not to oppose the third reading.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Bill be now read the third time."—(Mr. Arthur O'Connor.)
§ MR. TOMLINSONsaid, of course it was competent to the hon. Member to press the third reading upon him, and he was not so familiar with the practice of the House as to say whether or not it was absolutely a matter of right to have the Bill read a third time; but when the hon. Member spoke of the unusual course of having the Bill reprinted, he must say it was unusual for such a Bill to appear for the third read- 250 ing with Amendments three or four times as long as it was on the second reading. But, under all the circumstances, he should not press the matter any further.
§ Motion agreed to.
§ Bill read the third time, and passed.