§ Order for Committee read.
§ The EARL of ELLENBOROUGHsaid, the Bill as it now stood, was totally un-suited to the state of society to which it was to be applied. Their Lordships ought to remember that there was no aristocracy in India. The Bill was framed on the supposition that, in India, fathers and mothers and their children resided in the same place, which was seldom or never the case: on the contrary, there was not a man in India who could command his place of residence for twenty-one days, inasmuch as all were servants of the State, and must obey its orders; therefore, the clause which made imperative a residence of twenty-one days would be oppressive. His belief was that the Bill would increase the offence of bigamy to an extent hitherto unknown to India; as it would have the effect of rendering valid certain marriages which were now invalid. He submitted that the best course their Lordships could adopt was to send the Bill to a Committee upstairs, with a view to its modification, so as to adapt it more to the state of society in India than it was in its present shape.
§ LORD BROUGHTONsaid, he had stated on a former occasion that, in case any of the clauses should he thought inapplicable to the purposes for which they were intended, it was his duty to receive suggestions from any one of their Lordships, with a view to their amendment. He had been favoured with suggestions from the noble Earl himself, and he should act on those suggestions when their Lordships went into Committee on the Bill. In short, as the Bill was now printed, many of the objections of the noble Earl were already obviated. He agreed with the noble Earl that it was not desirable to throw any impediments in the way of marriage in India. He should have no objection to the Bill being referred to a Committee upstairs; but he had already been desirous of putting the Bill in a shape which he had hoped would meet with the approbation of even the noble Lord. Under those circum- 396 stances, he hoped their Lordships would think it reasonable to go at once into Committee pro formâ—that the Bill, with the Amendments, should then be reprinted, and then, if the noble Earl should object to the Bill as amended, he (Lord Broughton) should be happy to send it to a Select Committee.
§ The EARL of ELLENBOROUGHsaid, after the explanation given by the noble Lord (Lord Broughton), he should not object to the Bill going into Committee; but he would offer this advice to the noble Lord—never, in Indian matters, to trust altogether to the opinions or recommendations of persons who had never been out of Calcutta.
§ House in Committee pro formâ Amendment made; the Report thereof to be received on Thursday next.