§ Considered in Committee.
§ (In the Committee.)
§ [Mr. J. W. LOWTHER, Cumberland, Penrith, in the Chair.]
§ Clause 1:—
§ * MR. LECKY (Dublin University)moved an Amendment to insert after the word "Commissioners" the following words: "or shall have obtained the degree of Engineering in any University in Great Britain or Ireland." He said that the Amendment dealt with what appeared to him to be a very practical grievance—namely, that a man who, by a long course of study and a severe examination, was qualified to discharge the duties of a county surveyor should be obliged to go through a second and supplementary examination. That appeared to him to be exceedingly irrational.
§
Amendment proposed—
In page 1, line 8, after the word ' Commissioners,' to add the words 'or shall have obtained the degree of Engineering in any University in Great Britain or Ireland.' "— (Mr. Lecky.)
§ Question proposed, "That those words be there inserted."
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR, Leeds, Central)I presume this Amendment is technically in order in connection with this Bill, but although it may be technically in order it appears to me to raise a question which is hardly germane to 807 the Bill. The Bill is intended to meet a very simple difficulty. Under the County Surveyors (Ireland) Act, 1862, it was enacted that whenever a vacancy occurred for the post of county surveyor the candidates should be examined. That caused no difficulty before the Local Government Act for Ireland was passed, because the Lord Lieutenant had the special power of transferring a county surveyor from one county to another in Ireland without an examination being necessary. That power was taken away from the Lord Lieutenant by the Local Government Act, and the result is that a county surveyor cannot now be transferred from one comity to another without undergoing an examination for the second time. It is in order to meet that difficulty that this very simple Bill has been produced. My right hon. friend desires that we should insert in this Bill a provision which can hardly be regarded as wholly non-controversial. He proposes in effect that a University degree of engineering shall be held to be equivalent to an examination by the Civil Service Commissioners That appears to me to raise an important question. It may be a good thing that we should have legislation to provide that University degrees, not only on this subject but on other subject, should be held to be an equivalent to a Civil Service examination; but that is obviously a question which ought not to be discussed or determined on a small non-controversial Bill of this kind. It is a question which my right hon. friend has a perfect right to raise, especially in connection with the University of which he is the distinguished representative; but I think it would be extremely unwise if we were on this occasion to delay the passage of this Bill in order to discuss a proposition which cannot be regarded as non-controversial.
§ Question put, and negatived.
§ Bill reported without amendment; read the third time, and passed.