HC Deb 01 August 1900 vol 87 cc363-7

Considered in Committee.

(In the Committee.)

[Mr. J. W. LOWTHER (Cumberland, Penrith) in the Chair.]

Clause 1 agreed to.

Clause 2:—

MR. TULLY

wished to bring under the notice of the Chief Secretary a considerable grievance which existed in the fact that under the orders of the Local Government Board county councils were compelled to make two sets of rate-books, one of which had to be sent to the office of the clerk of the union. As this duplicate set was never used except in very exceptional cases, all the extra expense was incurred for practically no object. To make the grievance even more acute, the Local Government Board had allowed one of its officials, in conjunction with a firm of printers, to copyright the form of the rate-book, and as a result the price of the books was four or five times greater than otherwise would be the case. He hoped when fresh regulations were made these matters would be remedied so as to protect the ratepayers from the unnecessary expenditure caused by this practice.

Clause agreed to.

Clause 3:—

MR. MAURICE HEALY (Cork)

was understood to contend that to do justice under this clause it was necessary to continue the rights at present possessed by the middleman, and he moved the Amendment standing in his name.

Amendment moved— In page 2, line 3, after 'reduced,' to insert the following sub-section:—'(3) Sub-section (4) of the said Section 54, as amended and extended by this section, shall continue to have effect until the tenancy of the person therein referred to is determined, notwithstanding that the existing tenancy of the occupier may have previously determined.'"—(Mr. Maurice Healy.)

Question proposed, "That those words be there inserted."

MR. G. W. BALFOUR

thought the Amendment would not carry out the intention of the hon. Member, nor was it based on a right principle. It was impossible to carry a provision on the land referred to beyond the termination of the tenancy.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clauses 3 and 4, agreed to.

Clause 5:—

SIR JAMES HASLETT

had some difficulty in seeing the exact effect of the clause. He feared it would re-enact the special salaries of certain officials in the cities of Belfast and Deny.

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.

said the hon. Member need be under no apprehension on that point. The position of the present clerk of the peace and clerk to the Crown was safeguarded and continued by Section 67 of the Act of 1898. The present Bill dealt only with matters after the present officials ceased to hold their offices.

Clause agreed to.

Clause 7:—

MR. TULLY

asked for an explanation of how the clause would operate. Very serious charges had been put upon the ratepayers in order to pay compensation to existing officials who really had no bona fide claim thereto. A number of officials had claimed compensation under the Local Government Act in respect of certain offices of which they had been deprived, notwithstanding the fact that their total emoluments were now higher than before the Act was passed.

MR. G. W. BALFOUR

interposed, and said the clause had been put in at the express wish of several county and district councils, but if the hon. Member objected to it the Government had no great desire to retain it.

Clause agreed to.

Clauses 8, 9, and 10 agreed to.

Clause 11:—

MR. TULLY (Leitrim, S.) moved to alter the quorum from seven to five. At present, he said, there was a great difficulty in getting a quorum, and if they made the number seven the grievance would be nearly as great as it was under the present state of things. He hoped the Chief Secretary would give way on this point. Three was considered sufficient for a quorum at a board of guardians meeting. The district councils had to deal with sanitary matters, and in cases where fever had broken out in the past they had been unable to get a quorum together for several weeks. As a rule the members lived a long way from each other, and it was difficult to get a large number like seven together. He therefore hoped the right hon. Gentleman would make a concession on this point.

Amendment proposed— In page 4, line 3, to leave out the word 'seven' and insert the word 'five.'"—(Mr. Tully.)

MR. G. W. BALFOUR

said he thought five would be too small a number, and he did not think it would be in the public interest to make the reduction suggested.

Amendment negatived.

Amendment proposed— In page 4, line 4, after the word 'any' to insert the words 'county council and.'"—(Mr. Tully.)

MR. G. W. BALFOUR

replied that he had received no representations whatever as to this change from the councils concerned, and they were perfectly well satisfied with the present proposal. Unless the councils made representations that the number should be smaller he did not think they would be justified in making this change.

Amendment negatived.

Clauses 11 and 12 agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; read the third time, and passed.