LORD FARNHAMI beg to move for copies of the following Acts mentioned in the sixth schedule of the Local Government (Ireland) Bill, 1898, omitting therefrom all portions proposed to be repealed by the said sixth schedule, and inserting therein all new words proposed to be substituted or inserted therein under the Draft Order in Council, under clause 102 of said Bill as first printed by the Lords (Bill No. 164):—The Grand Jury (Ireland) Act, 1836; The County Dublin Grand Jury Act, 1844; The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act, 1840; The Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854; The Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1838; each of said Acts to be printed as above amended, as a separate Paper, and all new words substituted or inserted therein to be underlined. These five Acts are of very great importance, and will be constantly referred to in the future by the members of the county councils, and all others connected with the working of these bodies. In fact, my Lords, they are the Acts which these bodies will be called upon to administer, and it will be of very great convenience to the public in general if your Lordships would grant this Return for which I ask. Of course, it may be said that these Acts can be obtained in another form, but, I submit, they will be in a very much larger, more expensive, and more cumbersome form, inasmuch as they would probably be bound up in one volume, and would be extremely expensive and quite out of the reach of many county councillors and district councillors, who would be very glad to possess themselves of the particular Act which they may happen to want. I beg to move the Motion.
VISCOUNT TEMPLETOWNI think it is most important that these things should be available at a cheap rate, and not only confined to members of the legal profession. There is, no doubt, a very great difficulty in arriving at a solution, as we know from the discussions which are going on in your Lordships' House, after the Land Act of 1880; as to the interpretation of the Acts and various references made from one Act to another, there is sufficient doubt to justify the Motion of the noble Lord.
§ THE EARL OF DENBIGHThe Irish Local Government Board fully recognises the convenience that would accrue from having this Act in a more compendious form, whereby may be found out exactly the way in which these various Acts have been amended, and I may say it is intended to publish an edition of the Irish Acts repealed in part by the Local Government Act, with the repealed parts omitted, and with the alterations which will be made by the Orders in Council. This, of course, cannot be done until the Orders in Council have been passed, but no time will be lost in getting it completed as soon as possible; and I think I may also say that I do not think the noble Lord need be afraid of the great expense of this work, for I believe it will be published at a price that will be within the reach of everybody, and in a form which will be acceptable to everybody.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.