§ MR. HOWELL (Bethnal Green, N.E.)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he can inform the House when 1246 the first volume of the revised edition of the Statutes will be ready for publication; whether there is any cause for delay in the publication; and, if so, what is the reason; and, whether the Government will take such steps as may be necessary in order to hasten the publication of the revised Statutes?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)Two volumes of the revised edition of the Statutes are, I understand, nearly ready for issue; but there is now before the House a Consolidation Bill, which has passed the Standing Committee on Law, and which, if it become law, will affect about 16 Acts now included in the Statute Book. Under these circumstances, it has been deemed advisable to retard the issue of the Statutes, in order to see whether the above Bill passes this Session.