§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR, Leeds, Central) moved for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the Labourers (Ireland) Acts 1883 to 1892.
§ DR. TANNERsaid, that before the leave the right hon. Gentleman asked for was given, the right hon. Gentleman ought to make some statements in explanation of the objects and scope of the Measure, as was usual in the case of the introduction of Government Bills. He had given his attention to this subject for a considerable number of years, and he did not think it right that this Bill should be introduced at that hour of the night without some idea being given of its nature.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURsaid, the object of the Bill was to amend as far as possible the defects in the existing law which arose from many causes, and occasioned much delay. The right hon. Gentleman enumerated the various causes of delay which it was intended to obviate, but these remarks were not clearly heard in the reporters' gallery. They had not, he continued, attempted to deal with one supposed cause of delay—namely, the nature of the appellate tribunal, which was at present the Privy Council. He thought it would be undesirable to substitute the Local Government Board for the Privy Council, as this would be to make the Local Government Board an appellate tribunal against itself. As a matter of fact the statistics did not bear out the allegation that it was the nature of the appellate tribunal which caused delay in these cases. During the last five years there were 134 Provisional Orders made for 1508 3,814 cottages, and of these, 66 Orders were appealed against, the number of cottages affected by the Bill being only 261. Of the 66 Orders which were appealed against, in only 4 cases were the whole of the Provisional Orders opposed, so that the remaining 62 were really unnecessarily delayed in respect of the cottages which were actually objected to under those Orders. This Bill proposed that where a Provisional Order was only objected to in respect to certain cottages that the erection of the cottages not objected to should be at once proceeded with, and if this alteration in the law was introduced the appeal would practically be reduced to nothing, and of course the expense would be correspondingly reduced.
Bill to amend the Labourers (Ireland) Acts, 1883 to 1892, ordered to be brought in by Mr. Gerald Balfour and Mr. Attorney General for Ireland; presented, and read the First time; to be read a Second time upon Tuesday 2nd June, and to be printed.—[Bill 241.]