§ Bill read 3a, with the Amendments.
§ LORD NORTHBROOKproposed the following new Clause:—
(Service of notices on reserve forces.)The Secretary of State may require the police throughout the United Kingdom to serve within their respective districts any notices he may desire to be served on any members of the reserve forces in such district; and all officers and men of every police force shall conform to the orders of the said Secretary of State in relation to the service of such notices. 'The reserve forces' shall mean the army reserve, the militia reserve, and any other reserve forces as defined by Act of Parliament, also the militia, yeomanry, volunteers, and any other land forces whatever within the United Kingdom, serving or liable to be called upon to serve Her Majesty in any military capacity and not forming part of the regular army."—(The Lord Northbrook.)
§ THE DUKE OF RICHMONDsaid, he thought the proposed clause in many respects objectionable. In the first place, the police being under the orders of the chief constable, who was under the direction of the Home Secretary, might receive through that channel orders conflicting with those of the Secretary for War. Where, moreover, the force was small, it would be inconvenient to take the police away from their proper duties: again, it was not proposed to remunerate them for serving those notices. He thought some other mode of serving those notices might be devised.
EARL DE GREY AND RIPONsaid, the Secretary for War would naturally communicate with the Home Office. The police could already be employed by the Lord Lieutenant in serving Militia notices; and in a case of great emergency it was most desirable that the Government should be enabled to avail themselves of the most ready and effective means which the organization of the country afforded.
§ THE DUKE OF RICHMONDdecidedly objected to the order for calling out the Reserve Forces being issued to the police by the Secretary for War. If the police were the proper persons to serve the notices, they should be put in action by the Home Secretary, who would communicate with the chief constable, otherwise the discipline of the force would be at an end.
§ LORD NORTHBROOKsaid, he was willing to alter the clause so as to provide that the directions were given through the chief constable. It was a matter of importance to have a prompt mode of summoning the men who would have to be called out under this Bill, and rather than go through the forms of the War Office applying to the Home Office, and the latter to the Lords Lieutenant and so on, causing great delay, he considered it was better to give to the War Office power through the police force to serve the notices. A great saving of time would be effected thereby. If any additional expense were thrown on the counties and boroughs by the proposed change, which he did not anticipate, he was sure means would be found to reimburse them.
§ THE EARL OF ROMNEYconsidered the notices should be sent through the Lords Lieutenant to the magistrates' clerks, and by them to the parish constables to be served.
THE EARL OF KIMBERLEYsaid, that the plan proposed by the Government was by far the best. With regard to the parish constables, he confessed that he looked with very little respect on those ancient and time-honoured functionaries, and should be sorry to entrust to them any matter of importance, whether as respected the Army or anything else.
§ THE DUKE OF RICHMONDsaid, he had no objection to the clause as amended.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.