§ House in Committee (according to Order).
§ Clauses 1 to 3 agreed to.
§ Clause 4.
§
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWN moved to omit Sub-section 4 of the clause, providing that
the Board shall comply with any instructions which may be issued by the Secretary to Scotland.
§ He took objection to this on the ground that it gave an undue and unnecessary power to the Secretary for Scotland. The danger of enacting such a provision as this was that it would encourage persons to put pressure upon the Secretary for Scotland to decide questions connected with particular cases of administration in their favour.
§ Amendment proposed, to leave out Sub-section 4.—(The Earl of Camper-down.)
* THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANsaid, that if the sub-section remained in the Bill the Secretary for Scotland would be in a very anomalous position. He might find himself in a minority of one on the Board in Edinburgh, and yet on returning 1167 to his office in London might overthrow their decision by a stroke of his pen.
LORD TWEEDMOUTHsaid, he was quite ready to accept the Amendment. He believed the words were surplusage, and had probably been put in by a too ardent admirer of the Secretary for Scotland.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, agreed to.
§ Clause 5 agreed to, with verbal Amendment.
§ Clause 6 agreed to.
§ Clause 7.
* LORD TWEEDMOUTHsaid, in moving an Amendment, that it was thought when this clause was first drafted there were no legal proceedings outstanding in which the Board of Supervision were concerned. It had been found that was not the case, and words were necessary to avoid difficulty.
§ Amendment moved, in page 3, line 20, after ("executed") insert ("or of any action or proceeding raised.")—(The Lord Tweedmouth.)
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, agreed to.
§ Clauses 8, 9, and 10 agreed to.
§ Clause 11.
§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH moved an Amendment in this clause, which enacted that a woman otherwise possessing the qualification for being registered on any County Council or Municipal Register of electors, should not be disqualified by marriage from being registered, provided that a husband and wife should not both be registered in respect of the same property. He proposed to amend the clause by substituting "qualification" for "property." The Bill would then, he said, be an enfranchising instead of a disfranchising measure, though he did not think this clause would greatly increase the electoral roll. There was no reason why two persons, either as owner or tenant, should not be upon the Register. Unless this Amendment were accepted they would run the risk of disfranchising persons unable to subdivide their property and enfranchise those who could do so.
1168§ Amendment moved, in page 5, line 2, to leave out ("property") and to insert ("qualification").—(The Lord Balfour of Burleigh.)
* LORD TWEEDMOUTHopposed the Amendment, which, in his opinion, might give rise to many bogus qualifications. Moreover, the word in the clause was the same as that used in the English Bill. If it would meet the views of the noble Lord to insert "qualified" instead of "registered" there would be no objection.
LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGHthought the proposed change would not be worth making, and as the Government objected to the Amendment he would not press it.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYwas sorry no Scotch lawyers were present, but his impression was that the noble Lord opposite would not gain the object he had in view by the clause as it stood. The lessee and the freeholder of a house would still be two separate persons.
* LORD TWEEDMOUTHwas not sufficiently learned in the law to be able to reply to the suggestion, but he had been advised that the object would be attained by keeping the words as they were.
§ Amendment (by leave of the Committee) withdrawn.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ Clause 12.
§ Drafting Amendment.
§ THE MARQUESS OF HUNTLY moved to substitute "sheriff" for "county," as the Registers would be confided to the Sheriff Clerk, who would be the proper person to make them up.
§ Amendment moved, in page 6, line 13, to leave out ("county") and to insert ("sheriff").—(The Marquess of Huntly.)
LORD TWEEDMOUTHsaid, the Government were in this case indifferent. The change suggested was not important, but as there seemed to be some difference of opinion between Sheriff Clerks and County Clerks he had no objection.
LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGHsaid, the reason for the Amendment was that as the Sheriff Clerk was the official 1169 appointed to make up the roll lie should he responsible for circulating it. It seemed unnecessary to divide the work between two officials.
§ Amendment (by leave of the Committee) withdrawn.
§ Clause agreed to.
§ LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGH moved a new clause modifying and altering the Bill in its application to parishes in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Leith. He said the provisions of the Bill as they affected the larger Municipal Authorities would introduce most serious difficulties and would cause needless confusion and a great deal of unnecessary expenditure. Take Glasgow as a concrete case. That city was divided into five parishes, one wholly burghal and the other four partly burghal and partly landward. The affairs of the Parochial Body were managed entirely apart from the Town Council. The municipal elections for the different wards and parishes took place every year. The Parish Council elections took place once in three years, and yet, under the Bill the Municipal Authorities were obliged to prepare the Register every year. That would put them to great expense. He was informed that the cost of adapting the electoral roll for the purposes of the Parish Council would be greater than the expense of preparing a special roll. Again, in large towns great difficulty would arise from having the elections for the Town Council and the Parish Council on the same day. That would certainly be the case in such places as Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee, where the provision in the 15th clause would cause great confusion. If the contemplated arrangements had been carefully examined they would not have been adopted. It was becoming more and more the custom for working classes in large towns to poll late in the evening, and already great difficulty was experienced in the voting arrangements. If parish elections with their multiplicity of candidates were to be superadded, the difficulties would be increased. Double 1170 elections would have to be held with the same Presiding Officer. He had received a letter from Sir J. Marwick, the Town Clerk of Glasgow, pointing out that the scheme of the Bill would introduce great confusion into the elections in that city. The Secretary for Scotland in the other House admitted that the provision in the Bill could not stand, but the right hon. Gentleman suggested that, any amendment should be postponed until some time before the second election took place. It seemed strange to him that when a defect in the Bill was pointed out and recognised it could not be at once remedied. The proposal he now made, which was approved and supported by Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee, would meet the difficulty that was apprehended. He had reason to believe that other large Municipalities in Scotland took a similar view, and he hoped the Government would see their way to accept the Amendment.
§
Moved to insert as a new clause—
This Act shall apply to the parishes specified in Schedule V. annexed to this Act, subject to the modifications and alterations following (that is to say):—