§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Bill be now read a second time."
§ MR. BIGGAR (Cavan, W.)said, he did not mean to dispute that the Bill might be an exceedingly good one; but, at the same time, it always aroused suspicion in his mind when the Member in charge gave no explanation of the contents of a Bill. He thought it would only be reasonable to ask that some Member whose name was one the back of the Bill should give the House some slight indication of what the whole thing was about, so that hon. Members might judge how far they would be justified in allowing this stage to pass.
§ COLONEL MALCOLM (Argyllshire)said, this was a Bill that might be perfectly good on the East Coast of Scotland but it seemed to take rather a wide range when it proposed to prevent entirely the system of trawling within the three-mile limit all round the Coast of Scotland. That was simply the object of the Bill. He also observed that the Bill mentioned beam or other trawling. On the West Coast fishermen followed a system of trawling for herrings that was not beam trawling, and the Bill without some definition must lead to considerable confusion. For these reasons he objected to the Bill being read a second time without any explanation.
§ It being Midnight, the Debate stood adjourned.
§ Debate to be resumed To-morrow.