COMMITTEE. (Hansard, 24 March 1863)

THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE
presented Petitions from Boards of Guardians in Ireland, praying that the expenses of carrying out the provisions of the measure be defrayed out of the Imperial funds; and from the President and Fellows of the King and Queen's College of Physicians (Ireland), objecting to certain provisions of the Bill, and complaining that the Returns required to be made would not show the sanatory condition of the population in the various towns. The learned body from whom this Petition emanated did not think it was right that the medical men whose duty it would be, as registrars, to 1795 make the Returns should be placed in a position inferior to clerks of unions. After reading the petitions and examining the various clauses of the Bill, he must say, that if it were intended to take effect as a sanatory measure, its provisions were utterly inadequate. If it were designed with such an object, it would be necessary that the Returns should be made by gentlemen of professional attainments; while, on the other hand, if they merely contained a bald statement of the number of deaths in each town, they would be of little use for sanatory purposes. When he first read the Bill, he did not think it had any sanatory object, and if it was looked to to give the Government of Ireland sanatory information it would entirely fail. He thought it would be better to expunge those clauses relating to sanatory regulations, and postpone the consideration of the Bill in Committee till after Easter.

§ THE EARL OF ST. GERMANS
said, he should be prepared to discuss the different points the noble Marquess had referred to in Committee on the Bill.

§ THE EARL OF BANDON
said, he entirely agreed with the noble Marquess that a delay of a few weeks was desirable, with a view to the further consideration of this measure; and he thought that delay the more desirable seeing that there were scarcely any Irish Peers then in the House. In the Bill of last year, the expense of registration was to be charged upon the Grand Jury cess and not upon the poor rate; in this Bill it was made to fall upon the poor rate. It was a known fact that so long as the poor rate was confined to the relief of the poor they gave a stimulus to the ratepayers to keep it down; but that if they added other charges, that stimulus was removed. His opinion certainly was that the charge for the registrars should be on the Consolidated Fund. He entertained a very strong opinion that it would have been a far wiser course for the Government to introduce a Bill to settle the whole question of births, deaths, and marriages in Ireland. A Committee was appointed in the House of Commons to which all the Bills on the subject were referred, and they reported as to the registration of marriages; but the Government had not legislated on that point, and had done so on those on which the Committee did not report. He thought there was nothing so easy to deal with as this question of the registration of marriages; and since this Bill had passed through the other House 1796 two or three measures had been proposed on the subject, and all parties seemed to agree that legislation should take place with reference to it. He therefore suggested that this measure should be postponed for the present, with a view to their dealing with the registration of births, deaths, and marriages altogether.

THE EARL OF LEITRIM
was under-stood to dissent from some of the provisions of the Bill, and to urge that its consideration in Committee should be postponed for a short time.

THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE
trusted the Government would have no objection to alter the title of the clerks of unions, who in this clause were called "superintendent registrars," to "clerks of registrars."

§ THE EARL OF ST. GERMANS
opposed the Amendment. He thought it as well to have the same machinery in Ireland as in England.

THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE
would be contented with the omission of the word "registrar," and the insertion of the words "of registries" in lieu thereof.

CONTENTS.
Newcastle, D.	Sydney, V.
Somerset, D.
	Cranworth, L.
Camden, M.	Crewe, L.
	Dartrey, L. (L. Cremorne.)
Airlie, E.
Albemarle, E.	Foley, L. [Teller.]
Caithness, E.	Harris, L.
Camperdown, E.	Hunsdon, L. (V. Falkland.)
Cathcart, E.
De Grey, E.	Llanover, L.
Devon, E.	Lyveden, L.
Ducie, E.	Overstone, L.
Ellenborough, E.	Ponsonby, L. (E. Bessborough.) [Teller.]
Granville, E.
Grey, E.	Redesdale, L.
Russell, E.	Stanley of Alderley, L.
St. Germans, E,	Sundridge, L. (D. Argyll.)
Eversley, V.	Wodehouse, L.

NOT-CONTENTS.
Bandon, E.	Clements, L. (E. Leitrim.)
Belmore, E. [Teller.]
	Somerhill, L. (M. Clanricarde.) [Teller.]
Hawarden, V.