Lords Sitting of 19 March 1895

AUSTRALIAN COLONIES CUSTOMS DUTIES BILL.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (The Marquess of RIPON),in moving the Second reading of this Bill, said it was a measure which was not likely to meet with any opposition, because the object of it was to relieve the Australian Colonies of certain disabilities which they laboured under, and which did not apply to other Colonies of the Crown. By the Act for the Better Government of Her Majesty's Australian Colonies passed in 1850, those Colonies were restrained from making any fiscal arrangements with any other Colony whatever which, involved differential treatment of any kind, and that restriction applied not only to the Australian Colonies en bloc, but to each separate Colony, so that one Colony could not make any such arrangement with another. The Colonies after a time sought to be relieved from those disabilities, especially as regarded their arrangements amongst themselves within the limits of Australia, and Parliament saw fit in 1873 to pass a Bill enabling them to make such arrangements between themselves and with the Colony of New Zealand, but not with any other Colony. That, of course, removed to a certain extent the disabilities of this nature under which the Australian Colonies lay, but it still left them subject to a certain degree of disability, because although Victoria could make such an arrangement with New South Wales, neither New South Wales nor Victoria could do so with Canada or the Cape, which latter Colonies, however, were able to enter into such arrangements between themselves or any other Colony except the Australian Colonies. The Colony of New Zealand was thus left in a very peculiar position—namely, that she was the only one of Her Majesty's Colonies which could make an arrangement of the kind referred to with any other Colony whatsoever, because, though not an Australian Colony, she was allowed to make fiscal
1358
arrangements with the Colonies of Australia or with Canada or the Cape. At the conference last year at Ottawa, at which his noble Friend opposite (the Earl of Jersey) represented Her Majesty's Government—and he was glad to have that opportunity of expressing the thanks of the Government to his noble Friend for the able manner in which he discharged his important duties at that Conference—this particular matter engaged the attention and enlisted the interest of the members, and a resolution was passed by the Conference asking that the Australian Colonies might be relieved of the disability in question. When the Government came to consider the able Report of his noble Friend, this question naturally came very prominently under their attention, and neither he as Secretary of State for the Colonies nor his colleagues in the Government could see that any justification existed for leaving the Australian Colonies under a disability which did not apply to other Colonies of the Crown. Consequently the Government came to the conclusion that it would be only right to meet the views of the Conference, to abolish the disability, and to allow all the Colonies equally to make fiscal arrangements among themselves, though not to make such arrangements with the United Kingdom, because in that case considerations and obligations of treaties with foreign countries would enter into the matter. The whole and sole object of the measure, therefore, was to give to the Australian Colonies at their urgent request relief from the disability he had explained. His Lordship concluded by moving the Second Reading of the Bill.
Motion agreed to.

GRAND JURIES (IRELAND)—No. 2—BILL.
LORD MOBRIS,in moving the Second Reading of this Bill, said it was a very short one, and had already passed the House of Commons. Its object was to amend the blot which had recently been discovered in an Act of Parliament which had been in existence since 1836. The 6th and 7th William IV. regulated the Grand Jury system of Ireland so far as regarded civil purposes, and no doubt all their Lordships who were cognisant

1359
with Irish matters knew that the maintenance of roads in Ireland was a matter which had to go before Presentment Sessions in the first instance, then to the following Assizes before the Grand Jury, and then before the judge on circuit, who gave his fiat. Upon receiving that fiat it became a judgment, and could only be challenged in the ordinary way of challenging a judgment—namely, by an application to the Queen's Bench. Since the passing of the Grand Jury Act of 1836 the keeping of the roads in repair had been by contract for periods generally of five or seven years, the work being under the supervision of the County Surveyor. At the last Summer Assizes in the County of Londonderry a difficulty occurred that rendered apparent the blot in the Act which this Bill sought to remove. The Assizes in Ireland, as many of their Lordships were no doubt aware, were held twice a year, but practically there was an interval of eight months between the Summer and Spring Assizes, and only four months between those of the spring and summer. In the longer period considerable inconvenience would be suffered at times by the road contractor through payment for the work done having to stand over until the next Assizes, and the object of the Bill was to remedy that defect, and to expedite payment of the contractor's bills for work he had done, and which the County Surveyor's certificate showed had been duly executed in accordance with the contract.
LORD RIBBLESDALEsaid, the Irish Government had no objections to the provisions of this Bill, which would obliterate the blot of which the noble Lord had complained, and remedy the existing inconvenience.
LORD ASHBOURNEsaid, it was obvious that the Bill removed a defect in the Grand Jury Act. He had received a communication requesting him to move an amendment to remove another blot in the Act of 1836, and he should take an opportunity of doing so during the Committee stage of the Bill.
Bill read 2a.

STANNARIES BILL. [H.L.]
A Bill for abolishing the Court of the Vice—Warden of the Stannaries—Was presented by the Lord Chancellor; read 1a; and to be printed. [No. 43.]

EVIDENCE IN CRIMINAL CASES (NO. 2) BILL. [H.L.]
A Bill to amend the Law of Evidence—Was presented by the Lord Chancellor; read 1a; to be printed; and to be read 2a on Monday next. [No. 44.]
House adjourned at a Quarter before Six o'clock, to Thursday next, a quarter past Four o'clock.