CLAUSE 39.—(Power to Great Northern Railway Company to Purchase Lands Delineated on Deposited Plans.) (Hansard, 22 July 1913)

§ Mr. MARTIN
I am not responsible for the White Paper, but it is the only means I have of following what is going on, and I object to the change made here. I object to the word "additional" being put in before "lands," and, secondly, to leaving out the words "delineated on the plans." This question about the enlargement of the railway premises is a most important question in East St. Pancras. I do not say it is not necessary; of course, railway companies must have facilities for doing their business, but it does seem to me this is going beyond everything that can be considered reasonable and fair. In the Committee of this House provision or power was given to the Great Northern Railway Company to purchase lands delineated on the plans. That was taken up by the borough council and dealt with, though not at all satisfactorily from my standpoint. I think they dealt with it very unsatisfactorily to the people of East St. Pancras. Now, as I understand it, the proposal is that they shall not simply take the land that they have designated and marked upon the plans, but that they shall 1962=take additional land without describing what they are, and I submit that the House should not agree to an Amendment like that proposed in the House of Lords. I think it is most unreasonable. What they are being allowed to do in this particular case is to take away lands lying along Regent's Canal. That may be necessary and reasonable, but surely it ought to be done in the way that this House allowed them to take these lands, and that they should be first put upon the plan.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
I must point out to the hon. Member that the cause of the Amendments is only an alteration of the marginal note which appears in the previous Act. If he looks at the Clause he will see the proposal in this Bill is to alter the marginal note and to insert the word "additional" and leave out the words "delineated on the deposited plans." It is only an alteration in the marginal note.

§ The CHAIRMAN of WAYS and MEANS
May I suggest that if the hon. Member will be good enough to honour me with his company in my room to-morrow, I will be able to explain to him why the Lords Amendments are printed on this way. He appears not quite to appreciate the effect of what it is the House of Lords has done. They have only made an alteration in order to bring the Clause inserted in this House into line with the marginal note. It is purely a verbal alteration and not one of any substance whatever.

§ Mr. MARTIN
Not perhaps in regard to this Act but in regard to some other Act. I have had the matter brought before me, and I know there is a great deal of feeling with regard to it. It may be this particular Amendment is only in regard to the marginal note, but that is the whole point. The Section has been misrepresented to the people on account of the marginal note as if they were only to take certain land.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
The marginal note has no statutory validity. It is only inserted for the purpose of reference.

§ Mr. J. J. MOONEY
I want to raise a point of Order. I do not object to the Bill proceeding at all, but in the White Paper I have in my hand, the Amendments are all mixed up. I think I was the first 1963=person to raise the question that when serious Amendments were made to Bills in the House of Lords, they ought to be set out upon the Paper. I submit, with all respect, we would get on much better if these proceedings were printed in the same way as they are on the Paper which the Clerk has got before him, and if you, Sir, would be good enough to give instructions to the Parliamentary agents to have the Amendments printed in the same form on the White Paper, I think it would facilitate procedure very much.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
I could have the Amendments printed in the way in which they are put from the Table. That used to be done, and objection was taken because it was said that hon. Members did not see the effect of the Amendments, and it was to meet the views of hon. Members that the White Paper was printed in accordance with Standing Order 220, to show the effect of the Amendments made in the Lords. If the hon. Member will look at the White Paper he will see that it is designed to make clear what the effect of the Amendments are which have been inserted in the Lords. We could do what the hon. Member thinks is desirable, but I am afraid that it would only lead to more confusion.

§ Mr. MOONEY
I only intervened in the interests of procedure. When a Bill is being discussed like this, we ought to know exactly what the Clerk at the Table is reading.

§ The CHAIRMAN of WAYS and MEANS
Perhaps I may be permitted to make a suggestion, and it is that the hon. Member and any other hon. Members interested might confer with me on the subject. It was found that the present method is an improvement on the one which previously obtained, and the present system was adopted at the request of private Members. I should be glad to take the view of hon. Members on the subject.

§ Mr. BOOTH
Even so, my point is that there has been a mistake in printing this particular Bill. We start off with page 18, then pages 41 and 54, and then we come back to pages 2, 5, 13 18, 31, and so on. When we get to that point the clerk read out something which caused us to turn back to the Clause which we seemed to have passed. I think there has been a mistake somewhere.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
The new Clauses came first. If the hon. Member will take his page 101 of his Paper, he will see on page 50 that Clause 39 is set out. He will see it stated that the words to be omitted are included in brackets and underlined, and the Clause, words and figures to be added are printed in italics. The Clause as set out on page 50 of the White Paper shows the effect of the Amendment coming from the Lords. That is the one we have discussed just now, which is an alteration in the marginal note. The hon. Member will see that we are not discussing the whole of this Clause, because the Clause as a whole was not amended, but it is set out to show the effect of inserting the words.

§ Mr. BOOTH
I quite follow that. What I was pointing out was that we go to page 54 and then back to page 2 on the White Paper.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
That is a new Clause, and new Clauses always come first. It is printed in italics to show that it is a new Clause. We took the Lords Amendments in the order they are made in the Bill. The Amendments are set out in the method this House has adopted, and we have taken the new Clauses first.