§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
§ Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Lord Steward.)
§ EARL FORTESCUEhoped that the Home Secretary would refuse, under the powers conferred upon him by this Bill, to diffuse expenditure of a temporary character over a long period of years. In the case of the reformatory ship which had been extravagantly fitted up by the London School Board, the cost of the carpets and furniture, and he had heard of a piano also, had been borrowed, and spread over a long series of years. Such an example, if sanctioned, would be a direct encouragement to extravagance. He hoped that nothing would be placed against the capital that was likely to be worn out in the course of those years.
§ EARL BEAUCHAMPadmitted that there was a considerable expenditure on this head beyond what there ought to be; but he trusted that the conspicuous example of extravagance mentioned by the noble Lord would be the means of preventing similar cases in future. The object of the Bill was simply to enable school boards to start or contribute to the support of industrial schools.
§ Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Thursday next.