§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ Motion made and Question proposed, "That the Bill be now read a second time."
§ DR. CLARK (Caithness)I think we ought to have some explanation from the Government as to the objects of the Bill. Four of the clauses are legislation by reference, and no one can tell what they mean. The fifth clause proposes that £25,000 shall come out of the Consolidated Fund for some purpose, and the sixth clause is the title of the Bill.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR, Leeds, Central )This Bill is intended to facilitate the purchase of land, in order that it may be afterwards resold to the tenants. The first five clauses are all devoted to that object, and there is no ambiguity about them. The Irish Members, who are most interested in the Bill, are entirely satisfied with it.
§ MR. DAVITT (Mayo, S.)I entreat my hon. friend not to oppose this Bill. There is absolute unanimity amongst the Irish Members in favour of it being passed, and it is a Bill which, in my opinion, will confer many benefits upon those with whom, I am sure, my hon. friend sympathises.
§ MR. CALDWELL (Lanarkshire, Mid)This Bill is very satisfactory to the Irish Members. It confers upon the Irish Congested Districts Board a considerable sum of money, and we are therefore fairly entitled to ask what the Government 1116 propose to do in the case of the Congested Districts Board of Scotland. The circumstances are practically the same in both cases, and I submit we ought to have some explanation as to why the same assistance is not being given to Scotland.