Lords Sitting of 4 February 1881

PRIVATE BILLS.
Ordered, That this House will not receive any petition for a Private Bill after Friday the 11th day of March next, unless such Private Bill shall have been approved by the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice; nor any Petition for a Private Bill approved by the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice after Tuesday the 10th day of May next:
That this House will not receive any report from the Judges upon petitions presented to this House for Private Bills after Tuesday the 10th day of May next:
Ordered, That the said orders be printed and published, and affixed on the doors of this House and Westminster Hall. (No. 10.)

NOXIOUS GASES—LEGISLATION.

  QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS.
  VISCOUNT MIDLETONasked Her Majesty's Government, When it was their intention to bring in a Bill to deal with the question of Noxious Gases? He need not remind their Lordships that this subject had long occupied attention. The Acts passed on the subject several years ago owed their origin to Reports of Select Committees, made at the instance of their Lordships. Within two years of the passing of the last Act the grievances which had been before complained of became so much intensified that, on a Motion of a Member of their Lordships' House, Her Majesty was pleased to appoint a Commission to inquire into the subject. He had on former occasions called their Lordships' attention to the line of inquiry which was pursued by that Commission, and the conclusions at which they had arrived. He did not propose to recapitulate them; but in order that their Lordships might not underrate the importance of the interests mixed up in this question, he would briefly enumerate the places and neighbourhoods in which the evils to be dealt with in any future Bill arose. They were—Glasgow, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Tyneside, Durham, and the coke oven district; Liverpool, and the adjacent towns; St. Helens, Widness, and Runcorn; Manchester, Nantwich, and Cheshire salt works; Flint, and the North of Wales chemical works; Swansea, and the copper works of the southern part of the Principality; and last, but
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  not least, the banks of the Thames, both north and south, especially the northern portion of the Thames, from Blackwall down to Greenhithe. The population surrounding these places, more or less affected by the evils complained of, could not be less than the whole population of Ireland. It would, he believed, be no over-statement to say that 6,000,000 of individuals—a very large proportion of them amongst the poorest of our population—were affected by the influences of these noxious gases. What happened? The Commission to which he had referred made its Report in the summer of 1878. In the year 1879 a Bill was introduced by the President of the Local Government Board. That Bill, he believed, reached its second reading; but for reasons which he could not enter into, although he could do so at the proper time, it perished in the "massacre of the innocents." The next year, or rather the close of the same year, the evil had become so much aggravated that a deputation from Lancashire, headed by the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Derby), had an interview with the President of the Local Government Board, and urged upon him that, bad as matters were before, they were infinitely worse in the winter of 1879–80, and that it was absolutely necessary some further legislation should be initiated. Further legislation was promised, and another Bill, also on the lines of the Report of the Commission, was laid on the Table of their Lordships' House in 1880. Then came a change of Government, and, he supposed, with the change of Government came other subjects which demanded the attention of the new Government, and this important matter was forgotten. In July last he called attention to this neglect, and he received a very satisfactory reply from the Representative of the Local Government Board in that House, to the effect that a Bill should be introduced at the earliest possible moment in the forthcoming Session. Information had reached him from very reliable quarters that the evils complained of had been even worse during the winters of 1879–80. The truth was, the influence of these noxious gases depended very much upon the prevailing winds, or whether there was no wind, and also upon the question of temperature. In consequence of the revival in trade, all these evils were becoming

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  intensified. He had hoped, considering the early period at which they were called together, and the remark that fell from the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs as to the absolute want of Business in their Lordships' House, that a Bill dealing with this subject would have been introduced at an earlier period. But, instead of that, one-sixth of the ordinary Session had now gone by, and no such Bill had been introduced. He hoped the time was coming when this subject would not escape the attention of the Government, but that it would be dealt with in a judicious and effective measure. By so doing Her Majesty's Government would earn the thanks of a very large portion of the working population of the country.
  THE MARQUESS OF HUNTLY,in reply, said, that early next week he would move for leave to bring in a Bill to consolidate the Alkali Acts, and to make further provision for the regulation of alkali and other works producing noxious gases.

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES (ANIMALS) ACTS—THE CATTLE TRADE.

  EXPLANATION.
  EARL SPENCERsaid, he wished to make a short explanation on the subject of a Motion of which his noble Friend behind him (the Earl of Airlie) had given Notice for that evening, and of a Question which his noble Friend wished to ask in moving his Motion. His noble Friend wished to move for Copies of any Correspondence that might have passed this year between the Veterinary Department of the Privy Council and the Committee of Lloyd's on the subject of the importation of cattle into this country; and to ask whether any commmunication had been made to Her Majesty's Government by the Government of the United States with respect to any steps which the last-named Government might have taken or might purpose to take with the object of stamping out cattle disease in the United States. Now, with regard to the Motion, he had to say that the Correspondence was not yet complete, and he did not think it would be for the public advantage that it should be produced in an unfinished state. With regard to the question, no communication
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  had been made on the subject to Her Majesty's Government by the Government of the United States; but there had been considerable Correspondence of another kind on the matter. In Papers which he presented last night, there would be found a great deal of information on the subject of cattle disease in the United States. In these circumstances, perhaps his noble Friend would think it more convenient to postpone raising anything like a discussion on the question till those Papers were in the hands of their Lordships.
  THE EARL OF AIRLIEsaid, that, after this intimation from the Government, he would postpone the matter.

  HIGHWAY ACT, 1878—RE-APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEE.—QUESTION.
  THE DUKE OF ST. ALBANSasked Her Majesty's Government, Whether they will re-appoint the Committee of last Session, or otherwise inquire into the unsatisfactory working of Highway Boards in various districts, with the view to the amendment of the Highway Act of 1878?
  THE MARQUESS OF HUNTLY,in reply, said, the Committee of last year was appointed on the Motion of the noble Earl opposite (Earl De La Warr). He hoped the noble Earl would move its reappointment this year; and, if he was not prepared to do so, the Government would take the matter up. He thought it desirable that the Committee should be appointed shortly, and that it should proceed at once with its inquiry. The Highway Returns of last year had not yet been received, and some time must elapse before they were ready.
  EARL DE LA WARRsaid, he was quite prepared to move the re-appointment of the Committee, when it could be done with due regard to the convenience of the Government and of their Lordships' House.
  THE EARL OF KIMBERLEYasked the noble Earl when he proposed to do so?
  EARL DE LA WARRsaid, he would give Notice of doing so for an early day.
  House adjourned at half past Five o'clock, to Monday next, Eleven o'clock.