§ On the Order for the adjourned Debate on Amendment moved after Third Reading of this Bill,
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYsaid, he had a clause, or proviso, to submit to the House which he had not been able to place on the Paper before. He had submitted the proviso to high authorities, by whom it had been approved. He would read the proviso which he wished to be inserted in place of the Amendment standing in the name of the Marquess of Huntly; it was as follows:—
Provided that any area of sea within the said limit of 13 miles shall be deemed to be under the jurisdiction of Her Majesty for the purposes of this section, if the powers conferred thereby shall have been accepted as binding upon their own subjects, with respect to such area, by all the States signatories of the North Sea Convention, 1882.
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (Lord TWEEDMOUTH)said, he thought the words proposed by the noble Marquess were very well adapted to carry out his intentions, and of course he would raise no objection to their introduction into the Bill. The noble Marquess would not expect him to be very effusive in his expression of gratitude, because he had treated this clause very cruelly indeed, and it seemed to him that the proviso was intended as a soothing salve to mitigate the sore he had created It did so mitigate that sore to a certain extent, because at any rate it acknowledged the justice of the policy which was intended to be effected by the clause. The effect of the clause as it now stood with the Amendment would be that, while the justice of the policy originally proposed by the clause was adnitted, yet the adoption of that policy was postponed to an indefinite period—say, to the Greek Kalends. To get a Convention 1704 to accept an arrangement would be a very difficult matter, and it would take a long time. Still, he was glad the noble Marquess did admit by his Amendment that the hardship imposed on the British trawler by being precluded from trawling along this stretch of water off the Scottish coast was not a very real one. To that extent he thanked the noble Marquess.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYsaid, that never was the point he took. He did not venture to enter upon such difficult matters as the regulation of fisheries. It might well be that such regulations were necessary for the purpose of distinguishing the area in which line men, herring men, and trawlers could fish. He did not express any opinion upon that, but he did take a strong objection that any bit of sea should be set aside in which foreigners might fish and Englishmen might not.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.