§ Clause 78 (Providing of local standards and sub-standards).
THE EARL OF DONOUGHMOREsaid, he wished to bring forward the Amendment he foreshadowed on the second reading of the Bill. It was intended to remedy the inconveniences attending the verification of local standards in Ireland. It provided that the local standards of the county of Dublin should be recognized as Board of Trade standards, and that the local standards throughout Ireland should be verified by them. They were to be verified in London every five 212 years; and, as the matter was a constabulary matter in Ireland, it was proposed to place them in the hands of the head of the constabulary. The great expense and loss of time that now occurred would thus be removed. However, Clause 37 of the Bill appeared to empower the Board of Trade to deal with the matter, as it provided for the verification of local standards in any place; and he hoped Her Majesty's Government would give some assurance that they would deal with the matter under this clause. The urgency of the case with regard to Dublin was greater than it was with regard to any place in England and Scotland; for, besides the expense of sending the local standards long distances for verification, there were certain climatic differences between the two countries to be considered.
§ Amendment moved, in page 23, before Clause 76, to insert as a new Clause—
§ (Standards in custody of Inspector-General of Constabulary to be equivalent to Board of Trade standards.)
§ "The local standards which at the passing of this Act are in the custody of the Inspector-General of the Royal Irish Constabulary, shall be verified by the Board of Trade not less than once in five years, and shall be deemed for all the purposes of this Act as regards Ireland to be equivalent to Board of Trade standards; and the said Inspector-General shall, subject as aforesaid, have the same powers and perform the same duties in relation to the said local standards as the Board of Trade have and perform in relation to Board of Trade standards."— (The Earl of Donoughmore.)
§ LORD HENNIKERsaid, the Board of Trade were disposed to think that the present system in Ireland of verifying weights and measures was not satisfactory; it led to unnecessary trouble, and unnecessary and great expense. The Board of Trade were prepared to take some steps to remedy this evil; if possible, by sending Board of Trade standards over to Ireland to be kept in Dublin. Before any such step would be taken, the Irish Office and the Treasury must be consulted. This would require time. If his noble Friend the noble Earl would withdraw his Amendment, he would undertake, on the part of the Board of Trade, to communicate with these Departments on the subject, to see what could be done. No clause would be necessary to carry out what he had proposed, as the provisions of Clause 37 213 would be quite sufficient to meet the case.
THE EARL OF DONOUGHMOREsaid, it could, no doubt, be done now, but only in a manner that was most expensive. What he desired was that it should be done in the cheapest manner.
§ Amendment (by leave of the Committee) withdrawn.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ Remaining Clauses agreed to.
§ The Report of the Amendments to be received To-morrow.