§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Bill be now read a second time."—(Mr. C. T. D. Acland.)
1615§ SIR R. ASSHETON CROSS (Lancashire, S.W., Newton)Before this Bill is read a second time I should like to put a question to the hon. Gentleman the Member for Launceston (Mr. C. T. D. Acland). As far as I understand, the object of this Bill is simply to transfer all the duties of the Home Office, with regard to inland fisheries, to the Board of Trade. I know that for a long time there has been a great desire on the part of the Board of Trade that the Home Office should allow the Inspectors who deal with the sea fisheries to deal with the inland fisheries also, and I presume that this Bill is intended to provide that the one set of Inspectors shall deal with the two fisheries. Now, unless there is some strong reason to the contrary, no one wishes to add to the labours of the Home Office, or to keep in the Home Office work that other people can do as well or better—no one can wish to do that. So far as I have been able to observe from experience, the Local Authorities had much better remain where they are than go to the Board of Trade. The Board of Trade has a large mass of business to do, and hitherto the inland fisheries have been well attended to by the Home Office. Therefore, before the Bill is read a second time, I should like to hear some reason for the transfer, because up to the present none has been afforded. I have never heard any complaint as to the action of the Home Office, and I believe the Local Authorities would much rather remain with the Home Office than be carried to the Board of Trade. Of course I cannot speak again at this stage, and, therefore, any answer I may have to make to the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Acland) I will reserve until Committee.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. C. T. D. ACLAND) (Cornwall, Launceston)Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman opposite will recollect that about a month or six weeks ago there was a long debate on the subject of the concentration of the direction of the fisheries in England in one Office. I think that at that time it was fully understood that it would be better, and my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Mundella) undertook to do his best, to concentrate within the Board of Trade itself, if that should be the pleasure 1616 of the House, all the administration of fisheries of every description in England. As the right hon. Gentleman (Sir R. Assheton Cross) is aware, the Board of Trade has at present an immense amount of work in connection with marine matters and with harbours and foreshores. As freshwater fisheries must, to some extent, be connected with the estuaries of rivers, it seemed to us that it would simplify matters if all the business connected with fisheries were intrusted to one Department. It is impossible for the Board of Trade to hand over the administration of the Mercantile Marine and of harbours and foreshores to the Home Office; and therefore the simplest and easiest, and the least expensive, method is to transfer the business connected with the freshwater fisheries from the Home Office to the Board of Trade. Of course, there will be full opportunity for explanation when the Bill gets into Committee. If the right hon. Gentleman wishes it, we can defer the Committee until Monday, or we can take it to-morrow. [Sir R. ASSHETON CROSS: Not to-morrow.] Then we will put it down for Monday.
§ Motion agreed to.