HC Deb 29 July 1914 vol 65 cc1506-7

(1) The enactments mentioned in the Third Schedule to this Act are hereby re pealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(2) This Act may be cited as the British nationality and Status of Aliens Act, 1914.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January nineteen hundred and fifteen.

Mr. RADFORD

I beg to move, in Subsection (2), to leave out the words "and Status of Aliens."

This is a Clause which deals with the short title of the Bill, and the short title of a Bill is one of the most useful reforms in the form of legislation that we have had of recent years. It is very convenient to have a title to your Bill which can be easily cited and is not too long. I submit that the title we have here, namely, "The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act," is too long to serve its purposes as a short title, and it would be much better if it were truncated in the manner I suggest. Let hon. Members bear in mind that a short title is not a table of contents but is a convenient form by which you may refer to an Act.

Mr. WEDGWOOD

I beg to second the Amendment.

Mr. HARCOURT

It is not a matter of great importance, because a short title is only a statutory knick-knack, but I think it is desirable to include the words "Status of Aliens" in the title, because, if you look at Clauses 17 and 18, they deal specifically with that subject, and anybody who wanted to refer to any Act dealing with the status of aliens would be inconvenienced if he did not find it in the short title.

Question, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.