Lords Sitting of 29 February 1892

THE COLONIES AND THE McKINLEY TARIFF.

  QUESTION—OBSERVATIONS.
  THE EARL OF DERBYMy Lords, I wish to take this opportunity of putting to the noble Lord, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, a question of which I have given him private notice. My noble Friend stated last week, in answer to a question that was put from this side of the House, that the West Indian Legislatures had been considering what new taxation should be levied in order to make up for the loss of Revenue resulting from the arrangement come to with the United States in consequence of the McKinley Tariff Act. My Lords, I have no doubt that the answer of my noble Friend was accurate as regards the West Indian Colonies generally; but, since that answer was given, I have received communications from certain persons connected with the Colony of Jamaica, who complain of the statement then made as not doing justice to the actual financial position of the Colony. They inform me that, although the total loss of the Revenue, consequent upon the new arrangements, exceeds £30,000 a year, it has not been found necessary, nor is it intended, to levy any new taxation in consequence. I understand that, since that answer, to which I refer, was given, some further information has been received at the Colonial Office, and I should be glad to know whether, in consequence of that information, my noble Friend is inclined in any way to modify or add to the statement he lately made.
  THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Lord KNUTSFORD)My Lords, the statement which I made on the former occasion was made purposely in very general terms so as to comprehend all the Colonies; and, speaking broadly, the statement was correct; for the Colonial Legislatures have, speaking generally, been considering the question of what taxation, if any, would be necessary in order to make up for the loss occasioned by their action to meet the views of the United States. It is true that, as
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  regards Jamaica, the Governor, in his speech on the opening of the Legislative Council, stated, as his opinion, that it would not be necessary to raise any new taxation in Jamaica,—the Revenue being, as the noble Earl opposite has pointed out, in a very prosperous state,—and that, therefore, he did not propose to ask for fresh taxes. I have no official or other communication or intimation that this view has been adopted by the Legislative Council; but, at the same time, I have not the least doubt but that it will be. I may perhaps mention some other facts a little more in detail as regards the other Colonies, as this opportunity is now given me by the noble Earl. I may state that in British Guiana the Court is probably now considering Ways and Means. In Trinidad I have just approved of some votes imposing new taxation; but there are some proposed Stamp Acts which have not been settled by the Council so far as we know. In Barbadoes fresh Acts have been passed and have been sanctioned. In St. Vincent measures came before me after I had spoken on the former occasion, and I have now approved of those measures. In St. Lucia the questions are still under consideration; and so also in the Leeward Islands.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION COMMITTEES OF COUNTY COUNCILS.

  QUESTION—OBSERVATIONS.
  THE BISHOP OF SALISBURY:My Lords, in venturing to put to Her Majesty's Government the question that stands in my name, I should like to ask, by the indulgence of the House, to be allowed to explain why it is that I do so. I do it in the interests of the County Councils themselves as much as of those who have asked for grants from them. My Lords, I recognise fully the difficulty in which these Councils have been placed, especially in the matter of technical education. They have perhaps been rather imperfectly instructed in their duties on this matter by the three Acts of Parliament passed in three recent years; they have had to formulate their principles and to work out their methods in practice as they went along; and, therefore, it was almost inevitable that there should be some little inequalities in their way of acting.

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  But, inasmuch as unfortunately,—I am afraid it is a matter of general knowledge,—elections to County Councils are conducted more or less on Party lines, it seems reasonable that the light of publicity should be brought to bear on their action, especially in the distribution of large sums of public money. I venture, my Lords, to ask whether it is not a matter of right, rather than of favour, that we should be explicitly informed on what principles and by what persons grants for technical education are either given or refused; and I beg, therefore, to ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is possible to require technical education Committees of the County Councils to publish minutes of their proceedings?
  THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Viscount CRANBROOK):My Lords, in the absence of my noble Friend (Lord Henniker) I have been requested to answer this question, which would naturally have fallen to him My Lords, the fact is that there is no power to require a Committee of the County Council to publish minutes; nor am I aware that there is any authority for their incurring expenditure for such a purpose. It may be the case that they could admit reporters; but everybody will see that there might be a good deal of difficulty in admitting reporters to consultations of Committees. And, after all, my Lords, the grants are not made by the Committees, but by the Councils themselves.

EVIDENCE IN CRIMINAL CASES BILL [H.L.]—(NO. 4.)
Order of the Day for the Third Reading, read, and discharged.
SHORT TITLES BILL [H.L.]—(No. 12.)

  SECOND READING.
  Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
  THE LORD CHANCELLOR: My Lords, the object of this Bill is simply to shorten the language of Acts of Parliament. Your Lordships are aware that of late years it has been the practice in every Act of Parliament to introduce a short title which by Statute
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  is made the mode by which the Act can be cited; and that has been found in practice to be very convenient. But, unfortunately, that was not the practice in Parliamentary drafting until a comparatively short period since; the result of which is that all Acts of Parliament which have been passed before a particular date must now be cited by their long titles—and some of them are very long indeed. We popularly are in the habit of speaking of the Habeas Corpus Act, and the Statute of Fraud, and so forth, which is a convenient and popular mode of citing them; but, if you had to refer to either of those Acts in an Act of Parliament, you would require to have four or five, sometimes six, and, in one case that I have here, twelve lines as the title by which the particular Act is known. Under those circumstances, my Lords, it has been thought well to endeavour to grant to the references to former legislation the same procedure as the modern habit of Parliamentary drafting has introduced; and this Bill, which is called the Short Titles Bill, is simply for the purpose of re-christening the old Acts of Parliament with short titles, whereby they may be referred to in future when new legislation has to be applied to them. I am afraid your Lordships would not find much instruction or information by my reading through this Bill, or making any further observations upon it; because, after having explained its object, the only thing I could do would be to read the old titles of the old Acts of Parliament, and then to read the new titles that have been introduced for the purpose which I have indicated. I am afraid your Lordships would not consider that a profitable employment of your time, and therefore I will now simply move the Second Reading of the Bill.
  Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Lord Chancellor.)
  Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a (according to Order) and committed to a Committee of the Whole House Tomorrow.

  GAMING ACT, 1845, AMENDMENT BILL [H.L.]
  A Bill to amend the Act of the 8th and 9th Vict., chap 109, intituled "An Act to amend the law concerning games and wages"—was presented by the Lord Herschell; read 1a; and to be printed. (No. 23.)
  PRESENTATION TO BENEFICES BILL [H.L.]
  A Bill to make better provision for the exercise of the right of presentation to benefices in cases where the right is now exercisable by parishioners or others forming a numerous class—was presented by the Lord Archbishop of York; read la; to be printed; and to be read 2a To-morrow. (No. 24.)
BETTING AND LOANS (INFANTS)BILL [H.L.]—(No. 13.)

  THIRD READING.
  Order of the Day for the Third Reading, read.
  Bill read 3a (according to Order.)
  Amendments made; Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.

  LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACTS OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND REPEAL BILL [H.L.]
  A Bill for the repeal of the Local Government Acts of England and Scotland—Was presented by the Lord Denman; read 1a; to be printed; and to be read 2a To-morrow. (No. 25.)
  DURATION OF SPEECHES IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS BILL [H.L.] (No. 26.)
  A Bill to ascertain and limit the duration of speeches in the House of Lords. And
  WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE BILL [H.L.] (No. 27.)
  A Bill for extending the right of voting at Parliamentary, Municipal, and County Council elections in the United Kingdom to duly qualified women—Were presented by the Lord Denman; read 1a; and to be printed.

RAILWAY RATES AND CHARGES PROVISIONAL ORDER BILLS.
Message from the Commons that they have come to the following Resolution, viz., that all Bills of the present Session to confirm Provisional Orders made by the Board of Trade under the "Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888," containing the classification of Merchandise Traffic, and the schedule of maximum rates and charges applicable thereto, be referred to a Joint Committee of Lords and Commons, and to desire their Lordships' concurrence thereto; the said message to be taken into consideration To-morrow.
Standing Committee to meet To-morrow at Five o'clock.
House adjourned at twenty minutes before Five o'clock.