HC Deb 27 July 1908 vol 193 cc993-1002

Considered in Committee.

(In the Committee.)

Clause 1:

MR. RAWLINSON (Cambridge University)

said he wished to move the Amendment standing in the name of the hon. and learned Member for Kingston, after the word "Possession" to insert the words "to which this Act applies, and." These words led up to a new clause which was also on the Paper in the name of the hon. and learned Member for Kingston— (1) His Majesty may by Order in Council apply this Act to any British Possession where His Majesty is satisfied that by the law of such Possession a company incorporated in the United Kingdom and having a place of business in such Possession is entitled to privileges similar to those conferred by this Act. (2) His Majesty in Council may revoke any such Order when it appears that the law of the British Possession has been so altered that it would not authorise the making of an Order under this section. The Bill proposed to give power to certain companies to hold land in England—a power which they had not at present. When the matter was discussed on the Second Reading it was naturally agreed that it was necessary to prevent undesirable companies springing up here and getting the benefits of the Bill while they were not subject to proper restrictions. The object of the Amendment was to apply the Act only where the laws of the Colony or Possession to which the Act would apply properly safeguarded the interests of investors.

Amendment proposed— In page 1, line 5, after the word 'Possession,' to insert the words 'to which this Act applies, and.'"—(Mr. Rawlinson.)

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

*THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY TO THE BOARD OF TRADE (Sir H. KEARLEY,) Devonport

said he had had the opportunity of speaking to the hon. and learned Member for Kingston with regard to these Amendments, and when the lion. and learned Gentleman explained to him what he wanted, he saw no real necessity for them. The hon. and learned Gentleman spoke specially of the Channel Islands. Only so recently as last year they had had a most important conference with the Channel Islands' authorities with reference to their bringing their laws tip to such a point as to prevent the recurrence of the evils associated with the promotion of certain companies in these Islands. That conference had already borne good fruit. Jersey had already passed a law by which they gave no registration to a company in that Island unless it confined its operations to Jersey. As regarded Guernsey, the authorities met them to a considerable extent. Their law did not go so far as that of Jersey, but it had been already brought up to the point which satisfied the Board of Trade here. They had accepted our Companies Acts of 1890, 1893 and 1900. As the House was aware the Government had a Consolidation Bill in hand which would incorporate these and last year's Act. A draft copy had been submitted to Guernsey and he had every hope that they would adopt it. Under these circumstances the hon. and learned Member for Kingston was good enough to say that the case he wanted to provide for had been met; and, therefore, he asked the hon. and learned Member to withdraw the Amendment.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

thought it was a great pity that the Bill now before the Committee had any restrictive or limiting words whatever. He should have thought that it would have been the right thing to see English companies incorporated abroad.

*THE CHAIRMAN

said that the hon. Member was not in order in that line of discussion.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

said he might be in order in proposing a further Amendment by inserting the words "in British Possessions or elsewhere abroad."

*THE CHAIRMAN

said that the hon. Member could not move that now.

MR. RAWLINSON

said that though he was hardly satisfied with the hon. Gentleman's explanation he would not press the Amendment.

Leave to withdraw refused.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

said that all he desired to make clear was that in England we had a large number of companies formed and registered and which did business in British Possessions as well as every other country on the face of the globe. When they found there were restrictions there was not a business man who did not wonder why there were these stupid restrictions to prevent business being done in the particular country. But when they found there were similar restrictions here with reference to companies in British Possessions, and that they were not permitted to hold land in this country, then they though it was only reasonable that there should be restrictions against us. He hoped the Committee would agree with him that all these restrictions should be swept away, and that it should be made as easy as possible between one country and another. He regretted this Amendment because, although it would do something in the direction of these restrictions being swept away, it did not go to the extent he would like to see it go.

Amendment negatived.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD moved to add after "1907," the words "and complied with all the other requirements of Section 35 including an address to which notices might be sent or at which they might be served in accordance with such section." He said that the Amendment made it clear that, if a company registered abroad desired to do business in the United Kingdom, it must have the name and an address of a person in the United Kingdom on whom notice could be served and to whom process could be sent. It was to this particular section that the clause now before the Committee referred. If a company registered in a British Possession desired to own land in England, it was now required to company with Section 35, subsection (a), (b), (c) of the Act of 1907; "(a)" required a company to file a certified copy of its memorandum or its charter or statutes; "(b)" said it must give the names and addresses of one or more persons authorised to accept service. Why should there be a distinction made between a company which wanted to carry on business in England and a company which simply wanted to own land? This Bill wanted to make a portion of Section 35 of the Act of 1907 applicable to the company which wished to own land in England, requiring it to send in a list of its directors. But, supposing they did send in a list, if they did not go on filing one from year to year, in nine or ten years time it would be a list of dead people. What was the object of leaving out, the other requirements of the Act of last year? He proposed that all the requirements of Section 35 of that Act should apply, and he would give two illustrations to show how necessary it was. Supposing a company owning land refused to pay rates, there would be no person on whom notice could be served. At present it was clear that no company could own land in this country unless it had got an address at which notice might be served; but if this Bill were passed in its present shape, it need not have an address, the list of directors might be an old list, and the articles or statutes of the company might have been altered fifty times without any of the alterations having been registered. If all the provisions of Section 35 of the Act of 1907 were applicable to a company which did business in England, they ought to be applicable to a company which simply owned land here, and he submitted that the Bill ought not to be accepted unless it was amended in that way.

Amendment proposed— In page 1, line 9, after the word '1907,' to insert the words and complied with all the other requirements of Section thirty-five, including an address to which all notices or processes may be sent or served in accordance with such section, and continues from time to time to comply therewith.'"—(Mr. William Rutherford.)

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

SIR H. KEARLEY

said he could assure the hon. Member that they had secured all they wanted and that there was no necessity to draft the whole of the provisions of the section of the Act of last year into the clause. The main provision of the section was made applicable, and they were satisfied that no company would be able to take an improper advantage of the Bill. Under certain circumstances the other provisions of the section of the Act of 1907 would also apply.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

said that no provision was made for the filing of any alterations in the company's articles or statutes or in the list of directors, and subsection 2 of Section 35 which said that "a process shall be sufficiently served if it is left at that address," was left out. What was the object of providing for an address if they left out those words? Then why should not a company owning land in this country have to file a summary of its affairs at Somerset House the same as any other company, and be liable to the same fine of £50 if it broke any of the provisions of the section? He maintained that any common-sense man would insist upon these provisions being incorporated in the present Bill.

SIR H. KEARLEY

Does the hon. Member suggest we make these companies exempt from the provisions?

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

said he certainly suggested, that because they took certain subsections and said they should apply to companies owning land in this country but they did not intend to include the rest of the matters which were included in the section outside (a), (b) and (c). They were entitled to complain that the President of the Board of Trade was not there. He supposed he should not be in order to move to report progress, but at all events he desired to press his Amendment.

MR. MARKHAM (Nottinghamshire, Mansfield)

said as he was responsible for these paragraphs, and the Government had accepted his Amendments relating to paragraphs (a) and (b) of Clause 35 of the Companies Act of last year, he thought the Secretary to the Board of Trade would be well advised in having alterations in the memorandum and articles of association registered at Somerset House. He had an Amendment moved that all companies registered abroad with transfer offices in this country should deposit their Articles and Memorandum of Association together with a list of their shareholders and the Government accepted that Amendment. It was very careless on his part not to have put down in the same paragraph an Amendment to the effect that any alterations in the Memorandum and Articles of Association should be at once registered at Somerset House; otherwise the articles might be altered from time to time in foreign countries where British companies were registered and they have no knowledge of it. He hoped the Under-Secretary would on the Report stage introduce such Amendments as would cover that point, which would be helpful in finding out exactly the position of these companies.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

said that if the hon. Gentleman would assure him that in the meantime the matter should be looked into with a view of seeing whether there were not some other provision in Section 35 that ought to be included, he would withdraw the Amendment.

*SIR H. KEARLEY

said that Section 35 applied to every company incorporated outside the United Kingdom which had a place of business in the United Kingdom or a transfer office. Therefore, these particular Colonial companies in whose interest the Bill was being passed, only got the benefit of the Bill provided they were carrying on business in this country. If they were, the section in its entirety would apply to them. It was specified in the Bill that they must comply with (a), (b), and (c), which he thought was sufficient for the purpose. Section 35 of the Act of 1907 applied to all companies, whether foreign or Colonial, if they carried on business in this country.

MR. RAWLINSON

Is there any restriction in this Bill to companies

carrying on business in this country? A company may fall wider this Act and not under the 1907 Act.

SIR H. KEARLEY

said the Act only applied to companies established in British Possessions and carrying on business here. It had nothing whatever to do with ordinary businesses carried on here.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

said that if a company registered in a British Possession carried on business here it must comply with the whole of the 35th Section. But this Act would clearly only benefit a company registered in a British possession which aid not carry on business here and was not complying with the whole Act but simply desired to own land, and the right hon. Gentleman's Bill was to allow that company to own land without complying with the whole section and without carrying on business, and it did not apply to a company that was carrying on business here at all.

SIR H. KEARLEY

said that was exactly what the Bill did apply to. It applied to companies carrying on business here which were incorporated in British Possessions.

Question put.

The Committee divided:—Ayes, 32; Noes, 168. (Division List No. 225.)

AYES.
Acland-Hood, Rt. Hn. Sir Alex. F Coates, Major E. F. (Lewisham) Gretton, John
Arkwright, John Stanhope Cochrane, Hon. Thos. H. A. E. Hamilton, Marquess of
Balcarres, Lord Courthope, G. Loyd Harris, Frederick Leverton
Baldwin, Stanley Craig, Charlse Curtis (Antrim, S.) Harrison-Broadley, H. B.
Banbury, Sir Frederick George Craik, Sir Henry Heaton, John Henniker
Baring, Capt. Hn. G (Winchester) Dalrymple, Viscount Hill, Sir Clement
Barrie, H. T. (Londonderry, N.) Dixon-Hartland, Sir Fred Dixon Hope, James Fitzalan (Sheffield)
Beach, Hn. Michael Hugh Hicks Douglas, Rt. Hon. A. Akers. Hunt, Rowland
Beckett, Hon. Gervase Du Cros, Arthur Philip Joynson-Hicks, William
Bowles, G. Stewart Duncan, Robert (Lanark, Govan) Keswick, William
Bridgeman, W. Clive Faber, Capt. W. V. (Hants, W.) Lambton, Hon. Frederick Wm.
Bull, Sir William James Fardell, Sir T. George Lockwood, Rt. Hn.-Col. A. R.
Butcher, Samuel Henry Fell, Arthur Long, Rt. Hn. Walter (Dublin, S.)
Carlile, E. Hildred Fetherstonhaugh, Godfrey Lowe, Sir Francis William
Cave, George Forster, Henry William Lyttelton, Rt. Hon. Alfred
Cecil, Evelyn (Aston Manor) Gardner, Ernest MacCaw, William J. MacGeagh
Cecil, Lord John P. Joicey. Gibbs, G. A. (Bristol, West) McArthur, Charles
Cecil, Lord R. (Marylebone, E.) Goulding, Edward Alfred Magnus, Sir Philip
Mason, James F. (Windsor) Rutherford, W. W. (Liverpool) Warde, Col. C. E. (Kent, Mid)
Morpeth, Viscount Salter, Arthur Clavell Williams, Col. R. (Dorset, W.)
Morrison-Bell, Captain Scott, Sir S. (Marylebone, W.) Willoughby de Eresby, Lord
Nield, Herbert Sloan, Thomas Henry Wortley, Rt. Hon. C.B. Stuart.
Parkes, Ebenezer Starkey, John R. Younger, George
Pease, Herbert Pike (Darlington) Staveley-Hill, Henry (Staff'sh.
Percy, Earl Talbot, Lord E. (Chichester) TELLERS FOR THE AYES—Mr. Ashley and Mr. William Nicholson.
Remnant, James Farquharson Valentia, Viscount
Ronaldshay, Earl of Walker, Col. W. H. (Lancashire)
NOES.
Abraham, William (Cork, N. E.) Faber, G. H. (Boston) Lynch, H. B.
Acland, Francis Dyke Farrell, James Patrick Macdonald, J. R. (Leicester)
Adkins, W. Ryland D. Fiennes, Hon. Eustace Macdonald, J. M. (Falkirk B'ghs
Ainsworth, John Stirling Findlay, Alexander Maclean, Donald
Allen, Charles P. (Stroud) Fuller, John Michael F. Macnamara, Dr. Thomas J.
Ashton, Thomas Gair Fullerton, Hugh M'Hugh, Patrick A.
Asquith, Rt. Hon. Herbert Henry Gill, A. H. M'Micking, Major. G.
Balfour, Rebort (Lanark) Gladstone, Rt. Hn. Herbert John Maddison, Frederick
Barker, John Glendinning, R. G. Mallet, Charles E.
Barnes, G. N. Glover, Thomas Markham, Arthur Basil
Barran, Rowland Hirst Goddard, Sir Daniel Ford Marks, G. Croydon (Launceston)
Beauchamp, E. Gooch, George Peadboy (Bath) Marnham, F. J.
Beaumont, Hon. Herbert Greenwood, G. (Peterborough) Massie, J.
Beck, A. Cecil Grey, Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Micklem, Nathaniel
Bell, Richard Griffith, Ellis J. Mond, A.
Bellairs, Carlyon Gulland, John W. Montagu, Hon. E. S.
Benn, Sir J. Williams (Devonp'rt) Gurdon, Rt. Hn. Sir W. Brampton Mooney, J. J.
Benn, W, (Tw'r Hamlets, S. Geo.) Haldane, Rt. Hon. Richard B. Morse, L. L.
Berridge, T. H. D. Hall, Frederick Morton, Alpheus Cleophas
Bethell, Sir J. H. (Essex, Romf'rd Harcourt, Robert V. (Montrose) Murphy, John (Kerry, East)
Bethell, T. R. (Essex, Maldon) Hardie, J. Keir (Merthyr Tydvil) Myer, Horatio
Bowerman, C. W. Harmsworth, R. L. (Caithness-sh Napier, T. B.
Branch, James Harwood, George Nicholls, George
Brooke, Stopford Haslam, James (Derbyshire) Nicholson, Charles N. (Doncast'r
Bryce, J. Annan Haworth, Arthur A. Nolan, Joseph
Buchanan, Thomas Ryburn Hasel, Dr. A. E. Norton, Capt. Cecil William
Burns, Rt. Hon. John Hedges, A. Paget Nugent, Sir Walter Richard
Buxton, Rt. Hn. Sydney Charles Henderson, Arthur (Durham) Nuttall, Harry
Byles, William Pollard Henderson, J. M. (Aberdeen, W.) O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny)
Carr-Gomm, H. W. Higham, John Sharp O'Connor, John (Kildare, N.)
Causton, Rt. Hn. Richard Knight Hobart, Sir Robert O'Connor, T. P. (Liverpool)
Cawley, Sir Frederick Hogan, Michael O'Grady, J.
Channing, Sir Francis Allston Hope, W. Bateman (Somerset, N. O'Kelly, Conor (Mayo, N.)
Cheetham, John Frederick Horniman, Emslie John Parker, James (Halifax)
Cherry, Rt. Hon. R. R. Howard, Hon. Geoffrey Partington, Oswald
Churchill, Rt. Hon. Winston S. Hudson, Walter Paulton, James Mellor
Cleland, J. W. Hyde, Clarendon Pearce, Robert (Staffs, Leek)
Collins, Stephen (Lambeth) Idris, T. H. W. Pearce, William (Limehouse)
Collins, Sir Wm. J. (S. Pancras, W) Illingworth, Percy H. Philipps, Owen C. (Pembroke)
Condon, Thomas Joseph Isaacs, Rufus Daniel Pickersgill, Edward Hare
Corbett, C. H. (Sussex, E. Grinst'd) Jenkins, J. Ponsonby, Arthur A. W. H.
Cornwall, Sir Edwin A. Johnson, John (Gateshead) Price, C. E. (Edinb'gh, Central)
Cotton, Sir H. J. S. Johnson, W. (Nuneaton) Priestley, W. E. B. (Bradford. E.)
Craig, Herbert J. (Tynemouth) Jones, Leif (Appleby) Radford, G. H.
Crooks, William Jones, William (Carnarvonshire Rainy, A. Rolland
Crosfield, A. H. Jowett, F. W. Rea, Russell (Gloucester)
Delany, William Kearley, Sir Hudson E. Rees, J. D.
Dewar, Sir J. A. (Inverness-sh.) Kekewich, Sir George Richards, Thomas (W. Monm'th
Dickinson, W. H. (St. Pancras. N) King, Alfred John (Knutsford) Richards, T. F. (Wolverhampton
Dilke, Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Laidlaw, Robert Ridsdale, E. A.
Dobson, Thomas W. Lamb, Edmund G. (Leominster) Roberts, Charles H. (Lincoln)
Duckworth, James Lambert, George Robertson, J. M. (Tyneside)
Duncan, C. (Barrow-in-Furness) Lardner, James Carrige Rushe Robson, Sir William Snowdon
Dunne, Major E. Martin (Walsall Lever, A. Levy (Essex, Harwich) Roch, Walter F. (Pembroke)
Edwards, Clement Denbigh) Levy, Sir Maurice Roche, Augustine (Cork)
Edwards, Enoch (Hanley) Lewis, John Herbert Roche, John (Galway, East)
Essex, R. W. Lloyd-George, Rt. Hon. David Roe, Sir Thomas
Esslemont, George Birnie Lough, Rt. Hon. Thomas Rogers, F. E. Newman
Evans, Sir Samuel T. Luttrell, Hugh Fownes Rowlands, J.
Everett, R. Lacey Lyell, Charles Henry Runciman, Rt. Hon. Walter
Rutherford, V. H. (Brentford) Strauss, E. A. (Abingdon) Whitley, John Henry (Halifax)
Samuel, Herbert L. (Cleveland) Sutherland, J. E. Whittaker, Rt. Hn Sir Thomas P
Schwann, C. Duncan (Hyde) Taylor, Theodore C. (Radcliffe) Wiles, Thomas
Schwann, Sir C. E. (Manchester) Tennant, Sir Edward (Salisbury Wilkie, Alexander
Scott, A. H. (Ashton under Lyne Thomas, David Alfred (Merthyr Williams, J. (Glamorgan)
Seaverns, J. H. Thomasson, Franklin Williams, Osmond (Merioneth)
Seddon, J. Thompson, J. W. H. (Somerset, E Wilson, Hon. G. G. (Hull, W.)
Shackleton, David James Thome, G. R. (Wolverhampton Wilson, J. H. (Middlesbrough)
Shaw, Rt. Hon. T. (Hawick, B.) Tillett, Louis John Wilson, P. W. (St. Pancras, S.)
Sheehan, Daniel Daniel Torrance, Sir A. M. Wilson, W. T. (Westhoushton)
Sherwell, Arthur James Wads worth, J. Winfrey, R.
Simon, John Allsebrook Walsh, Stephen Wood, T. M'Kinnon
Smeaton, Donald Mackenzie Ward, John (Stoke-upon-Trent Young, Samuel
Stanger, H. Y. Wason, Rt. Hn. E (Clackmannan
Stanley, Albert (Staffs, N. W.) Waterlow, D. S. TELLERS FOR THE NOES—Mr. Joseph Pease and Master of Elibank.
Steadman, W. C. Weir, James Galloway
Stewart-Smith, D. (Kendal) White, Sir George (Norfolk)
Strachey, Sir Edward White, J. D. (Dumbartonshire)
Straus, B. S. (Mile End) Whitehead, Rowland
NOES.
Acland-Hood, Rt. Hn. Sir Alex. F Forster, Henry William Scott, Sir S. (Marylebone, W.)
Arkwright, John Stanhope Gibbs, G. A. (Bristol, West) Starkey, John R.
Ashley, W. W. Gordon, J. Staveley-Hill, Henry (Staff'sh.)
Balcarres, Lord Gretton, John Talbot, Lord E. (Chichester)
Banner, John S. Harmood. Hamilton, Marquess of Valentia, Viscount
Beach, Hn. Michael Hugh Hicks Hill, Sir Clement Williams, Col. R. (Dorset, W.)
Bowles, G. Stewart Houston, Robert Paterson Younger, George
Bridgeman, W. Clive Hunt, Rowland
Carlile, E. Hildred MacCaw, William J. MacGeagh TELLERS FOR THE AYES—Mr. Watson Rutherford and Mr. Hugh Barrie.
Cecil, Lord John P. Joicey. Mason, James F. (Windsor)
Clive, Percy Archer Morrison-Bell, Captain
Courthope, G. Loyd Pease, Herbert Pike (Darlington
Dalrymple, Viscount Rawlinson, John Frederick Peel
NOES.
Abraham, William (Rhondda) Allen, Charles P. (Stroud) Barran, Rowland Hirst
Acland, Francis Dyke Asquith, Rt. Hn. Herbert Henry Beaumont, Hon. Hubert
Adkins, W. Ryland D. Balfour, Robert (Lanark) Beck, A. Cecil
Ainsworth, John Stirling Banbury, Sir Frederick George Bellairs, Carlyen
Allen, A. Acland (Christchurch) Baring, Godfrey (Isle of Wight) Berridge, T. H. D.
Bowerman, C. W. Holland, Sir William Henry Priestley, W. E. B. (Bradford, E.)
Bright, J. A. Horniman, Emslie John Radford, G. H.
Brodie, H. C. Howard, Hon. Geoffrey Richards, Thomas (W.Monm'th
Brunner, J. F. L. (Lancs., Leigh) Hudson, Walter Roberts, Charles H. (Lincoln)
Bryce, J. Annan Hyde, Clarendon Roberts, Sir John H. (Denbighs)
Burns, Rt. Hon. John Illingworth, Percy H. Robinson, S.
Burnyeat, W. J. D. Jones, Leif (Appleby) Roch, Walter F. (Pembroke)
Byles, William Pollard Jones, William (Carnarvonshire Roe, Sir Thomas
Causton, Rt. Hn. Richard Knight Jowett, F. W. Rogers, F. E. Newman
Cherry, Rt. Hon. R. R. Kearley, Sir Hudson E. Samuel, Herbert L. (Cleveland)
Cleland, J. W. King, Alfred John (Knutsford) Scarisbrick, T. T. L.
Cobbold, Felix Thornley Lamont, Norman Schwann, C. Duncan (Hyde)
Collins, Sir Wm. J. (S. Pancras, W Lardner, James Carrige Rushe Scott, A. H. (Ashton under Lyne
Cooper, G. J. Lehmann, R. C. Seaverns, J. H.
Corbett, C H (Sussex, E. Grinst'd Lever, A. Levy (Essex, Harwich) Seddon, J.
Craig, Herbert J. (Tynemouth) Levy, Sir Maurice Seely, Colonel
Crosfield, A. H. Lewis, John Herbert Shackleton, David James
Davies, Ellis William (Eifion) Lockwood, Rt. Hn. Lt.-Col. A. R. Sherwell, Arthur James
Davies Timothy (Fulham) Luttrell, Hugh Fownes Stanger, H. Y.
Davies, Sir W. Howell (Bristol, S) Macdonald, J. R. (Leicester) Strachey, Sir Edward
Duckworth, James Mackarness, Frederic C. Straus, B. S. (Mile End)
Duncan, C. (Barrow-in-Furness Maclean, Donald Strauss, E. A. (Abingdon)
Edwards, Sir Francis (Radnor) Macnamara, Dr. Thomas J. Stuart, James (Sunderland)
Essex, R. W. MacNeill, John Gordon Swift Taylor, John W. (Durham)
Esslemont, George Birnie MacVeagh, Jeremiah (Down, S.) Taylor, Theodore C. (Radcliffe)
Evans, Sir Samuel T. M'Hugh, Patrick A. Tennant, H. J. (Berwickshire)
Everett, R. Lacey M'Micking, Major G. Thomas, David Alfred (Merthyr
Ferens, T. R. Maddison, Frederick Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton
Ffrench, Peter Manfield, Harry (Northants) Thorne, William (West Ham)
Flavin, Michael Joseph Markham, Arthur Basil Tomkinson, James
Fuller, John Michael F. Marks, G. Croydon (Launceston) Toulmin, George
Fullerton, Hugh Marnham, F. J. Verney, F. W.
Gill, A. H. Mason, A. E. W. (Coventry) Walsh, Stephen
Gladstone, Rt. Hn. Herbert John Massie, J. Ward, John (Stoke upon Trent)
Glendinning, R. G. Masterman, C. F. G. Ward, W. Dudley (S'thampton)
Glover, Thomas Micklem, Nathaniel Warner, Thomas Courtenay T.
Goddard, Sir Daniel Ford Mond, A. Wason, John Cathcart (Orkney)
Gooch, George Peabody (Bath) Morrell, Philip Waterlow, D. S.
Griffith, Ellis J. Newnes, F. (Notts, Bassetlaw) White, Sir George (Norfolk)
Gulland, John W. Nicholls, George White, J. D. (Dumbartonshire)
Gurdon, Rt. Hn. Sir W. Brampton Nicholson, Charles N. (Doncast'r Whitley, John Henry (Halifax)
Harcourt, Robert V. (Montrose) Nolan, Joseph Williams, J. (Glamorgan)
Hardie, J. Keir (Merthyr Tydvil Norton, Capt. Cecil William Wilson, J. H. (Middlesbrough)
Harmsworth, R L. (Caithn'ss-sh Nugent, Sir Walter Richard Wilson, P. W. (St. Pancras, S.)
Harvey, W. E. (Derbyshire, N. E) Nuttall, Harry Wilson, W. T. (Westhoughton)
Haslam, Lewis (Monmouth) Parker, James (Halifax) Winfrey, R.
Haworth, Arthur A. Partington, Oswald Wood, T. M'Kinnon
Hazel, Dr. A. E. Paulton, James Mellor
Hedges, A. Paget Peace, Robert (Staffs, Leek) TELLERS FOR THE NOES—Mr. Joseph Pease and Master of Elibank.
Henderson, Arthur (Durham) Pickersgill, Edward Hare
Higham, John Sharp Pollard, Dr.
Hobart, Sir Robert Ponsonby, Arthur A. W. H.
Hobhouse, Charles E. H. Price, C. E. (Edinb'gh, Central)

Original Question put, and agreed to.

Clause 2:

Question put, "That the clause stand part of the Bill."

The Committee proceeded to a division.

Mr. JOSEPH PEASE and the MASTER of ELIBANK were appointed Tellers for the Ayes, and, there being no Members willing to act as Tellers for the Noes, the Chairman declared that the Ayes had it.

Clause agreed to.

MR. WILLIAM RUTHERFORD

, on a point of order, asked the Chairman, under Standing Order 30, to record him as having voted against the clause just agreed to by the House.

*THE CHAIRMAN

That cannot be done.

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