The Earl of Limerickcomplained that a bill of this importance had been brought forward at so late a period of the session. It. appeared to him likely to be mischievous in its operation, as it tended to prevent persons having property on the banks of navigable rivers, as far as the tide flowed, from making the least improvement on their estates without giving notice to the secretary of the Admiralty. The penalty for not giving this notice was 200l. and many persons might thus be entrapped without being at all aware of the nature of the law. He thought it would in many cases be useless as to the interests of the pubiic, and' instanced the river Shannon, in Ireland, where the tide flowed a mile higher than vessels of any burden could come up, yet this bill would equally operate in that part of the river where it could not be of the least use.
§ Lord Grenvillesaid the bill had been brought forward as soon as the grievance to which it applied was known; and it was a measure which he contended was highly necessary in order to preserve our public harbours and navigable rivers from obstructions. It was merely required of the Person making any embankment or other work in the situations mentioned, to send notice to the secretary of the Admiralty, which could be but a very trivial hardship. Many other rivers might be in the situation of the Shannon, where the tide flowed higher than vessels of any burden could navigate, but it was, notwithstanding, important to prevent obstructions in those parts of such rivers, in order to prevent the navigable parts of those rivers from being ultimately injured.—The bill then passed through the committee, and was reported.