§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSMy Lords, I have some petitions to present upon which I desire to say just a few words in explanation. They are petitions from the following bodies: The Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, the General Shipping Society of London, the British Steamship Owners' Association of Sunderland, the Standard Steamship Protection and Indemnity Association of London, the United Kingdom Mutual Steamship Assurance Association of London, the Cardiff Incorporated Shipowners' Association, the Leith Shipowners' Society, the North of England Steamship Ownership Association, and the London Steamship Mutual Insurance Association. All these petitions, my Lords, are directed against the Harbour and Dock (Bristol, etc.) Rates Bill, the Second Reading of which, is fixed for Monday next. These petitions say that the tonnage at the present time is registered in a certain way under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and that this Bill proposes, in the supposed interests of these docks, to alter the system of registration by a private Bill. The petitioners hold—and I think it is a sound principle—that a system established under a public Bill ought not to be disestablished by a private Bill. Therefore it is, my Lords, that these petitions are presented to this House, and I hope my noble Friend the able and efficient Chairman of Committees will have his attention directed to the 3rd clause of these Bills.