SECOND READING. (Hansard, 21 February 1893)

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this also is a Bill which passed the Second Reading in this House during the last Parliament. It is a measure which, I believe, will be of great utility for the purpose of codifying the law relating to the sale of goods. It has undergone very great examination and consideration, and may now, I believe, be safely recommended to your Lordships. It differs only from the Bill which passed last Session in this respect: that there were then certain clauses inserted at the instance of my noble and learned Friend Lord Watson, for the purpose of extending the Bill to Scotland. The law of Scotland as to 4 the sale of goods differs, in certain particulars, from the law of England. As to almost all the particulars in which the law of the two countries differs, there was a common agreement; and both those who viewed the law from the English side, and those who viewed it from the Scotch side, saw their way to a mode of dealing with the Bill which gave complete satisfaction to the lawyers of both countries. But there were one or two matters in which the Scotch law differed from the English, and in which it was not possible to make the Statute satisfactory to the Scotch Lords. At all events, exception was taken somewhat vehemently in some quarters to the form in which these clauses were drawn. I should be most desirous of extending this Bill to Scotland, and of codifying in one Statute the law relating to so important a subject as the sale of goods, having regard to the law prevailing both in England and in Scotland, but your Lordships will easily understand that I am very anxious not to make this Bill contentious. The only possible chance of passing such a measure into law, a measure it is admitted of extreme utility, is to make it absolutely non-contentious; and whilst I should be thoroughly satisfied to re-introduce the Scotch clauses, if some common agreement could be arrived at among those who represent Scotland as to the form which those clauses should take, I should be unwilling to do so if thereby the Bill was made contentious, because that would mean that all chance of passing it and carrying into effect the object which is intended must be abandoned. I have thought it desirable to make this statement, in order to explain why the Scotch clauses are not found in the Bill at present. I beg to move the Second Reading.

§ LORD WATSON

said, he entirely agreed with the Bill as introduced by the noble and learned Lord. It had been very carefully framed, but he did not think the omission of the Scotch clauses was an improvement in the Bill. It must be obvious that it would be of great importance to mercantile men, as well as to lawyers, that the whole Code relating to these matters should be found within the four corners of one Act. If separate legisla- 5 tion were introduced for Scotland about nine-tenths of exactly the same matter would be placed upon the Statute Book as appeared in the English Bill. Differences of opinion existed upon some points, but those points were comparatively trivial, and he thought that before the Bill passed such a fair agreement would be come to on the part of those interested from a Scotch point of view as would remove all fear of endangering the safety of the measure.

Motion agreed to; Bill read 2^a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Monday next.