§ Commons Amendments considered, according to Order.
§ LORD JAMES OF HEREFORDMy Lords, in moving that the Commons Amendments be agreed to, I may point out that, though numerous, they do not materially affect the Bill. My hon. friends the Attorney General and Mr. Russell, who had charge of the Bill in the House of Commons, have had a very difficult task in carrying it through that House, but they have done their utmost to maintain the Bill in a condition which will not cause it to be less efficient than when it left your Lordships' House. During the passage of the Bill through this House the Government, and, I think, every Member, were anxious that none of the provisions should interfere with legitimate trading in money, and safeguards were put into the Bill with this object. Some of the Amendments which have been made in the House of Commons are not such as I myself should have suggested, because they remove in part the safeguards which were inserted by your Lordships. But the removal of these safeguards was moved in the House of Commons by a gentleman representing the banking interest, and, having regard to the origin of the Amendments, 748 I do not think they ought to be rejected. The Bill will give considerable benefit to those who deserve protection, and cannot materially injure those who carry on a legitimate business.
§ Commons Amendments agreed to.