§ MR. HOWELL (Bethnal Green, N. E.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the Merchant Shipping Bill proposes to consolidate the law relating to merchant shipping; whether he is aware that the Bill, and the Schedules as drafted, leaves three clauses of the principal Act of 1854 unrepealed, one also in the repeal Act of the same year, and several clauses in other and subsequent Acts; whether he will state to the House his reasons for this partial repeal; and whether he will accept Amendments to place the unrepealed enactments in the Schedule?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. MUNDELLA,) Sheffield, BrightsideThe Merchant Shipping Bill, which has now been read a second time, purposes to consolidate the various Acts of Parliament relating to the Mercantile Marine, and repeals those Acts so far as they are re-enacted by the Bill. Any sections unrepealed have been allowed to remain in force on the ground that they do not relate to merchant shipping, and refer to other subjects not included in consolidation. The three sections of the Act of 1854 to which the hon. Member refers relate, so far as unrepealed, solely to fishing boats registered under an Act passed in 1868 for the purpose of carrying out a Convention with France; another section deals with pensions to past officers, which would be more properly dealt with by a Statute Law Revision Act; and the remaining sections alluded to deal with subjects other than merchant shipping.
§ MR. HOWELLIs it the fact that Section 16 of the Repeal Act is not incorporated in this Bill?
§ MR. MUNDELLAI should not like to answer that offhand; but the hon. Member may rest assured that the Joint Committee which has to deal with this question will see that this Bill consolidates everything that relates to merchant shipping.