§ (The Lord President.)
§ SECOND READING.
§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDON, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that the Bill, which had come up from the Commons, was intended to prevent or to mitigate the evils which had been found to exist in the condition of that scattered 529 and shifting population which was employed in the navigation of boats and barges upon our canals and rivers. The mischiefs which arose from the dwelling of whole families in the close cabins of these boats, both in a sanitary and moral view, were very great; and the children of these families were almost entirely debarred from the advantages of that elementary education which had been provided by law for the rest of the poorer classes of children. The Bill proposed to provide against, or, at any rate, to mitigate, these evils. For this purpose it enacted that after 12 months from the passing of the Act, no canal boat should be used as a dwelling, unless registered as the Act provided. The owner, on registering his boat, was to state the number of persons of specified age and sex for whom his boat was to be used as a dwelling, and it was made penal to use the boat otherwise than according to the registration. The Local Government Board was authorized to make the necessary regulations for the registration, fixing the number of persons, for promoting cleanliness, and preventing infectious disease. The Sanitary Authority of the district within which the boat might at any time be, on being informed that an infectious disorder existed on board, was authorized to take the necessary steps for preventing the spread of the disease. For the purposes of education, the children and parents in a canal boat were deemed to be resident in the place to which the boat was registered as belonging; but, if the parent satisfied the school board of that place that the child was actually attending school, or was under efficient instruction, in accordance with the Acts in some other place, he would receive a certificate to that effect, and would then be deemed to be under the bye-laws of that place. In addition to this very reasonable provision for the education of this neglected class, there was another of great importance. Any company or association, proprietors of canal boats, or being owners or lessees of any canal, were empowered, notwithstanding any Act or Charter regulating the company, to appropriate any portion of their funds to the establishment and maintenance of a school or schools wherein the children of persons employed in canal boats might be maintained and educated, or educated only, but with this restriction—that the children should 530 not be maintained gratuitously, but the lodging or education might be wholly or partially gratuitous.
§ Moved, " That the Bill be now read 2a." —(The Lord President.)
§ Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House To-morrow.