§ Lords Amendments considered, and agreed to.
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§
Wherever a petition is presented to the court an immediate duty is laid on the court itself because Section 4 reads:
After a petition for divorce it shall be the duty of the court to inquire so far as it reasonably can into the facts alleged.
I should have thought that if you were going to reverse the process of the law in Scotland, as you are about to do, you would, at any rate, have accompanied that by some parallel safeguard laying a duty on the court, as in the case of the English court. This omission will weight the scales even more heavily against the unfortunate defender who, it seems to me, will have less than justice.
§ Question put, "That the Bill be now read the Third time."
§ The House divided: Ayes, 77; Noes, 19.
§ The remaining Orders were read, and postponed.