§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWN, in moving that the Bill be now read a second time, said, the object of that Bill was to provide a more convenient term of entering upon, and removal from, land and heritages in any Parliamentary or police burgh. The Bill had received material alterations in its course through the other House; and if their Lordships would agree to the second reading, he would take care to bring up an Amendment on the third reading which would bring the Preamble into greater harmony with the provisions of the Bill.
§ Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Earl of Camperdown.)
§ LORD WATSONsaid, he admitted that at present there was some inconvenience felt in Scotland owing to the customary terms of entry and removal not being coincident with the legal terms; and that Bill was endeavouring, therefore, to deal with a difficult question. At present the legal terms were the 15th of May and 11th of November; but in different parts of the country neither of those dates coincided with the customary terms, and the result was that a tenant leaving a house or farm in one district could not enter into possession of a new house or farm in another district without some loss of time. The scope of the Bill was limited to police, Royal, or Parliamentary burghs; but, in point of fact, the limits intended to be covered by the Royal, Parliamentary, or police boundary would not cover all houses, and the consequence would be that a large portion of the 15 difficulty would still remain to be dealt with. He also objected to the time of notice given in the case of a four months' letting, the result of which might be that a man who went into a house in February could not be turned out in May. He thought it was very dangerous to deal with this matter piecemeal, and he would ask the noble Earl whether it was worth while going further with a Bill of this nature; whether it would not be advisable to withdraw the present Bill, and bring forward a more extended one next Session?
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWN, in reply, said, he had not failed to regard the objections. He thought it was a question it was desirable to bring before Parliament; but at that late period of the Session he must say if the noble and learned Lord would not persist in his objection to the second reading, he would consult with those who were responsible for the measure, and see if it was advisable to proceed further with it now.
§ Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a.
§ House adjourned at Seven o'clock, till To-morrow, a quarter before Five o'clock.