§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
§ Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Marquess of Lansdowne).
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYsaid, he must once more draw attention to the slovenly manner in which these Bills were frequently drawn. The enactments of the Bill consisted chiefly of the enumeration of the sections of previous Acts. The consequences of this were sometimes ludicrous, not to say inconvenient. One of these references in the Bill empowered entry into any dwelling house in Belfast at any hour. One, at least, of the references was incorrect, and this mode of legislation was peculiarly liable to printers' blunders, one of them this Session having confused a provision as to bastard children with Courts-martial in India.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEsaid, that instructions had been given to the Irish Local Government Board to avoid this practice for the future.
§ After a short conversation, the Motion for the Second Reading was withdrawn, and the Bills were ordered to be read the second time on Tuesday next.