Lords Sitting of 18 June 1900

LORD INCHIQUIN.
Petition of Lucius William, Baron Inchiquin in the Peerage of Ireland, claiming a right to vote at the elections of Representative Peers for Ireland; read, and referred to the Lord Chancellor to consider and report thereupon to the House.
NEW PEER.
The Right Honourable Sir Richard Everard Webster, G.C.M.G., late Her Majesty's Attorney General, Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Court of Chancery in England, having been created Baron Alverstone of Alverstone in the Isle of Wight and county of Southampton—was (in the usual manner) introduced.
REPRESENTATIVE PEERS FOR IRELAND.
Writs and Returns electing the Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency a Representative Peer for Ireland in the room of the late Lord Inchiquin, deceased; with the Certificate of the Clerk of the Crown in Ireland annexed thereto. Delivered (on oath), and Certificate read.
The Marquess of Winchester sat first in Parliament after the death of his brother.
The Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency took the Oath.

PRIVATE BILL BUSINESS.
The LORD CHANCELLOR The LORD CHANCELLOR acquainted the House that the Clerk of the Parliaments had laid upon the Table the Certificates from the Examiners that the further Standing Orders applicable to the following Bills have been complied with:—

Bradford Corporation.

Great Western Railway.

Baker Street and Waterloo Railway.

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Also the Certificates that no further Standing Orders are applicable to the following Bills:—

Local Government Provisional Orders (No. 3).

Metropolitan Common Scheme (Petersham) Provisional Order.

Also the Certificate that the Standing Orders applicable to the following Bill have been complied with:—

Local Government Provisional Orders (No. 4).

And also the Certificate that the further Standing Orders applicable to the following Bill have not been complied with:—

Roe's Patent (Petition for Bill).

The same were ordered to lie on the Table.

WORKINGTON RAILWAYS AND DOCKS BILL [H.L.]
Witnesses ordered to attend the Select Committee.
MORECAMBE URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL (GAS) BILL.
A witness ordered to attend the Select Committee.
ALEXANDRA PARK (PETITION FOR BILL).
  ROE'S PATENT (PETITION FOR BILL)
  Examiner's Certificates of non-compliance with the Standing Orders referred to the Standing Orders Committee on Friday next.
LONDON AND SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY BILL.
Report of Her Majesty's Attorney General received, and ordered to lie on the Table.
NORTH WARWICKSHIRE WATER BILL.
The CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES The CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES informed the House that the opposition to the Bill was withdrawn. The Orders made on the 1st and 28th of May last discharged, and Bill committed for Monday next.

GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY BILL.
The CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES The CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES informed the House that the opposition to

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the Bill was withdrawn. The Orders made on the 30th of April and the 28th of May last discharged, and Bill committed.

WALSALL CORPORATION BILL [H.L.]
Reported from the Select Committee with Amendments.
WIDNES AND RUNCORN BRIDGE BILL.
The Queen's consent signified; and Bill reported with Amendments.
RAMSGATE CORPORATION IMPROVEMENTS BILL [H.L.]
The Queen's consent signified; and Bill reported from the Select Committee with Amendments.
NOTTINGHAM CORPORATION BILL.
Read 2a, and committed.
SOUTH LANCASHIRE TRAMWAYS BILL.
Read 2a, and committed. The Committee to be proposed by the Committee of Selection.
LANCASHIRE, DERBYSHIRE, AND EAST COAST RAILWAY BILL.
Read 2a, and committed.
LIVERPOOL OVERHEAD RAILWAY BILL [H.L.]
Read 3a, and passed, and sent to the Commons.
SOUTHPORT WATER BILL.
  HASTINGS HARBOUR BILL.
    MAIDENHEAD GAS BILL.
    Read 3a, and passed.
HOYLAKK AND WEST KIRBY IMPROVEMENT BILL.
  SOUTHPORT EXTENSION AND TRAMWAYS BILL.
  Read 3a, with the Amendments, and passed, and returned to the Commons.
FARNWORTH URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL BILL.

  GAS LIGHT AND COKE, COMMERCIAL GAS, AND SOUTH METROPOLITAN GAS COMPANIES BILL.
  HALIFAX CORPORATION BILL.
  HUDDERSFIELD CORPORATION TRAMWAYS BILL.
  JARROW AND HEBBURN ELECTRICITY SUPPLY BILL.
  KINGSCOURT, KEADY, AND ARMAGH RAILWAY BILL.
  LAMBETH WATER BILL.
  LONDON AND SAINT KATHERINE DOCKS AND EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCK COMPANIES BILL.
  METROPOLITAN DISTRICT RAILWAY BILL.
  MID-KENT WATER BILL.
  NEWRY, KEADY, AND TYNAN LIGHT RAILWAY BILL.
  PORTLAND URBAN DISTRICT GAS BILL.
  SOUTH METROPOLITAN GAS BILL.
  SOUTHPORT AND LYTHAM TRAMROAD BILL.
  WANDSWORTH AND PUTNEY GAS BILL.
  Brought from the Commons; read 1a; and referred to the Examiners.

GLASTONBURY CORPORATION GAS BILL.
Returned from the Commons with the Amendments agreed to.
LEITH BURGH PROVISIONAL ORDER BILL [H.L.]
Returned from the Commons agreed to, with an Amendment.
DORKING WATER BILL [H.L.]
  FISHGUARD WATER AND GAS BILL [H.L.]
    MOUNTAIN ASH WATER BILL [H.L.]
    Returned from the Commons agreed to, with Amendments.
  MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL BILL [H.L.]
  Returned from the Commons agreed to, with Amendments. The said Amendments considered, and agreed to.
  WITHTNGTON URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL BILL [H.L.]
  Report from the Committee of Selection, That the Lord Crofton be proposed to the House as a member of the Select Committee on the said Bills in the place of the Lord Crawshaw; read, and agreed to.
  EDUCATION BOARD PROVISIONAL ORDER CONFIRMATION (LONDON) BILL [H.L.]
    HAMILTON BURGH BILL.

      HAMILTON, MOTHERWELL, AND WISHAW TRAMWAYS BILL.
      AIRDRIE, COATBRIDGE, AND DISTRICT WATER TRUST BILL.
      AIRDRIE AND COATRIDGE TRAMWAYS BILL.
      GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY BILL.
      LEE CONSERVANCY BILL.
      Report from the Committee of Selection, That the Earl of Buckinghamshire be proposed to the House as a member of the Select Committee on the said Bills in the place of the Earl of Lichfield; read, and agreed to.

  LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDERS (GAS) BILL.
  Brought from the Commons; read 1a; to be printed; and referred to the Examiners. (No. 109.)
  TRAMWAYS ORDERS CONFIRMATION (No. 2) BILL [H.L.]
    TRAMWAYS ORDERS CONFIRMATION (No. 3) BILL [H.L.]
      TRAMWAYS ORDERS CONFIRMATION (No. 4) BILL [H.L.]
      Committed. The Committees to be proposed by the Committee of Selection.
  TRAMWAYS ORDERS CONFIRMATION (No. 1) BILL [H.L.]
    ELECTRIC LIGHTING PROVISIONAL ORDERS (No. 7) BILL [H.L.]
    Committed to a Committee of the whole House.
  GAS ORDERS CONFIRMATION (No. 1) BILL [H.L.]
  Amendments reported (according to Order), and Bill to be read 3a To-morrow.
  GAS ORDERS CONFIRMATION (No. 2) BILL [H.L.]
    ELECTRIC LIGHTING PROVISIONAL ORDERS (No. 6) BILL [H.L.]
      ELECTRIC LIGHTING PROVISIONAL ORDERS (No. 8) BILL [H.L.]
      Read 3a (according to Order), and passed, and sent to the Commons.

  RETURNS, REPORTS, ETC.
  The LORD CHANCELLOR The LORD CHANCELLOR acquainted the House that the following Papers having been commanded to be presented to this House by Her Majesty had been so presented on the following dates by delivery to the Clerk of the Parliaments, pursuant to Order of the House of the 17th February, 1896, vizi—
  Trade Reports—

  I. Annual Series—

  No. 2436. United States (Trade of the Philippine Islands, 1899). (May 31.)

  No. 2437. China (Pakhoi);

  No. 2438. Italy (Genoa and District);

  No. 2439. Netherlands (Amsterdam);

  No. 2440. France (Pondicherry);

  No. 2441. Turkey (Beirut and Coast of Syria);

  No. 2442. Persia (Persian Gulf);

  No. 2443. China (Swatow). (June 6.)

  No. 2444. Japan (Yokohama);

  No. 2445. Spain (Bilbao and District);

  No. 2446. France (Dunkirk);

  No. 2447. Russia (Taganrog);

  No. 2448. Switzerland;

  No. 2449. China (Hangchow). (June 11.)

  II. Miscellaneous Series—

  No. 526. Shipping and shipbuilding on the American lakes. (May 31.)

  Malta.—Ordinance No. X. of 1898 (the Contagious Diseases Law). (May 31.)
  Metropolitan Water Supply (Royal Commission).—Minutes of evidence taken before Her Majesty's Commissioners

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  appointed to inquire into the subject of the water supply within the limits of the Metropolitan Water Companies. Vol. II. (June 6.)
  Army (Volunteers).—Annual Return for 1899. (June 7.)
  Fisheries (Scotland). — Eighteenth Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, being for the year 1899—

  Part II. Report on Salmon Fisheries. (June 8);

  Part III. Scientific Investigations. (June 12.)

  Local Taxation (Royal Commission;.— Minutes of evidence and appendix. Vol. IV. (June 8.)
  Board of Education—

  1. South-Eastern Division. General Report for the year 1899, by I. W. Danby, Esq., Chief Inspector.

  2. East Central Division. General Report for the year 1899, by Reverend C. D. Du Port, Chief Inspector. (June 8.)

  3. Report to the Board of Education of the Proceedings of the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales under the Endowed Schools Acts, 1869 to 1889, for the year 1899. (June 12.)

  4. Minutes sanctioning the subjects to be taught under Clause 8 of the Technical Instruction Act, 1889, for the counties of—

  I. Warwick (sixth minute);

  II. Glamorgan (ninth minute). (June 12.)

  5. Associations constituted under the Voluntary Schools Act, 1897;

  6. Associated schools and amounts of aid grant paid;

  7. Unassociated schools and amounts of aid grant paid. (June 16.)

  India (Famine).—Papers regarding the famine and the relief operations in India during 1899–1900. Vol. I. British Districts. Vol. II. Native States. (June 15.)
  Patent Office.—Report of the Committee appointed by the Board of Trade to consider various suggestions which have been made for developing the benefits afforded by the Patent Office to inventors. (June 15.)
  Irish Land Commission—

  1. (Proceedings.) Return for the month of February, 1900.

  2. (Rules.) Rules, dated 21st May, under the Congested Districts Board (Ireland) Act, 1899, section 2. (June 15.)

  Loan Fund Board (Ireland).—Sixty-second Annual Report, for 1899. (June 15.)
  The same were ordered to lie on the Table.

  RETURNS, REPORTS, ETC.

    ARMY.
    I. (Pay, Non-effective Pay, and Allowances).—List of exceptions to the Army Regulations sanctioned during the year ended 31st March, 1900.

    II. (Volunteer Rifle Ranges).—Grants which it is proposed to make out of the sum of £40,000 taken for this purpose in the Military Works Loan, 1899.

    TRADE REPORTS (ANNUAL SERIES).
    No. 2450. Germany (Grand Duchy of Baden)

    No. 2451. Spain (Canary Islands).

    No. 2452. Netherlands (Java).

    No. 2453. Tripoli.

    No. 2454. Brazil (Porto Alegre).

    No. 2455. Denmark.

    No. 2456. Turkey (Bengazi).

    No. 2457. China (Wuhu).

    No. 2458. Italy (Elba).

    No. 2459. Turkey (Baghdad).

    No. 2460. Spain (Trade of Barcelona for the year 1899).

    Annual Statement of Navigation and Shipping of the United Kingdom for the year 1899.

    DUBLIN HOSPITALS.
    Forty-second Report of the Board of Superintendence, with appendices for the years 1899–1900.
    Presented (by Command), and ordered to lie on the Table.

    MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1894.
    Orders in Council of the 15th May, 1900—

    1. Approving certain pilotage byelaws made by the Humber Pilotage Commissioners.

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    2. Recognising in this country certificates of free board (load line) issued by the Government of South Australia to vessels registered in that Colony.

    EXPLOSIVES ACT, 1875.
    Order in Council of the 15th May, 1900, declaring that acetylene in admixture with air or oxygen gas shall be deemed to be an explosive within the meaning of the Explosives Act, 1875.
    PRISONS (SCOTLAND) (DIETARIES).
    Rules made by the Secretary for Scotland under the Prisons (Scotland) Act, 1877, establishing new rates of dietaries for the several classes of prisoners.
    INDIA (PROGRESS AND CONDITION).
    Statement exhibiting the moral and material progress and condition of India during the year 1898–99. Thirty-fifth Number.

    SUPERANNUATION—TREASURY MINUTES.
    I. Declaring that the following persons were appointed without Civil Service certificates through inadvertence on the part of the Heads of their Departments, viz.:—John Roberts, turnkey, Consular Gaol, Yokohama Consular Service; James Alfred Dawson, rural postman, Post Office Department.
    II. Declaring that for the due and efficient discharge of the duties of the office of Sanitary Surveyor under the Board of Trade (Mercantile Marine Services) professional or other peculiar qualifications not ordinarily to be acquired in the public service are required.

    LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
    Returns relating to the Council up to the 31st March, 1900; with estimate of expenditure for the year ending 31st March, 1901.
    PENAL SERVITUDE ACTS, 1853 TO 1891 (CONDITIONAL LICENCE).
    Licence granted by Her Majesty to Elizabeth Martin, a convict under detention in Aylesbury Prison, permitting the said Elizabeth Martin to be at large on condition that she enter the Royal Victoria Home, Horfield, near Bristol.
    POLLING DISTRICTS (COUNTY PALATINE OF LANCASTER).
    Orders made by the County Council of the County Palatine of Lancaster, dividing the Parliamentary divisions of Heywood, Leigh, and Stretford into convenient polling districts.
    INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION (IRELAND).
    Rule made by the Intermediate Education Board for Ireland appointing the places at which examinations for 1900 shall be held.
    PAWNBROKERS' RETURNS (IRELAND.)
    Return from the City Marshal of Dublin for the year ended 31st December, 1899.
    INCLOSURES, ETC., EXPENSES ACT, 1868.
    Fees to be taken in respect of transactions under the Tithe and other Acts, in accordance with the provisions of the Inclosure, etc., Expenses Act, 1868.
    HARWICH HARBOUR.
    Abstract of Accounts of receipts and expenditure of Harwich Harbour Conservancy Board, to 31st day of March, 1900, with report on proceedings, etc.
    FINES, ETC. (IRELAND).
    Abstract of the Accounts of fines accounted for by the Registrar of Petty Sessions Clerks for the year 1898.

    DOGS REGULATION (IRELAND) ACT, 1865.
    Accounts of receipts and expenditure under the Act for the year 1899.
    Laid before the House (pursuant to Act), and ordered to lie on the Table.

    UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ACT, 1877.
    Statutes made by the Governing Bodies of—

    I. St. John's College, Oxford, on 9th December, 1899, amending Statutes III. 1, III. 14, V. 4 (a), and XV. 2, of the Statutes of the College.

    II. Worcester College, Oxford, on 24th January, 1900, amending Statute III. 16 of the Statutes of the College.

    Laid before the House (pursuant to Act), and to be printed. (No. 107.)

    ENDOWED SCHOOLS ACT, 1869, AND AMENDING ACTS.
    Scheme for the management of the charity of William Price, in the parish of Fareham, in the county of Southampton, founded by will dated 24th August, 1721. Laid before the House (pursuant to Act), and to be printed. (No. 108.)
    RICHMOND BRIDGE.
    Account for the year 1899. Delivered (pursuant to Act), and ordered to lie on the Table.

  CHINA — ANTI - FOREIGN DISTURBANCES—RECENT OPERATIONS.
  THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY: Seeing the noble Marquess at the head of the Government in his place, I wish to ask him whether he can give us the latest news of the state of affairs in China.
  THE PRIME MINISTER AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (The Marquess of SALISBURY): I do not think we have any news which I can call of an interesting character. The Admiral has come back to Tientsin—this news comes through the Japanese boats —and we do not know exactly what grounds he had for coming back or what his intentions are. Also the Taku forts have been attacked, as I think your Lordships have seen in the newspapers, but we have not received any information of any result from that movement. I very much wish I could give the noble Earl fuller information, because it is naturally a matter which has created everywhere the utmost anxiety, both in this country and others. At present all we have been able to do is to inform those who represent us that their discretion is absolute, and to forward as many troops as we can.

  MARRIAGE ACT AMENDMENT BILL [H.L.]
  [SECOND READING.]
  Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
  THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: My Lords, this is a Bill which has been before your Lordships on more than one occasion, and has passed through this House, but has not become law simply for lack of time to consider it in another place. It does not,
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  therefore, require so full an explanation as might have been necessary if the Bill had been entirely new. On the contrary, there is very little that is new in it. I need not say much about the first three clauses, the second clause being an interpretation clause and the third merely a repetition of the law as it at present stands. The fourth clause deals with a matter which is rather troublesome to the clergy, and it has already been agreed to by your Lordships. At present there are two rubrics relating to the publication of banns of marriage which are somewhat inconsistent with one another, and it is sometimes thought that the clergy are bound by the one rubric and sometimes it is thought by the other. There is one rubric after the Nicene Creed which speaks of the proper time for publishing banns of marriage as immediately after that creed; and there is another rubric before the form of service for marriage which speaks of the proper time for the publication of banns as immediately after the Second Lesson. But it has never been settled in a court of law which of the two is the right interpretation. It is not really worth while to insist upon either, and this clause—which provides that the time for publishing banns shall be on Sundays, not earlier than the hour of nine in the morning after the Nicene Creed, or after the Second Lesson at Morning Prayer; and that if there is no Morning Prayer or Holy Communion the banns shall be published at Evening Prayer—will get rid of the difficulty by leaving it to the clergy themselves to decide what is the proper time for the publication of banns. To this I cannot conceive that there can be any objection. The fifth clause empowers the two Archbishops, with the consent of the Convocations and subject to the approval of Her Majesty the Queen, to alter the rubrics to correspond with what the Bill proposes to enact. The sixth clause is the most operative part of the Bill. It proposes that when the banns shall have been published, in the same way as they are published now, the marriage may be solemnised at any church in the diocese wherein the banns have been published. At present the marriage must be solemnised in the church in which the banns have been published; or, if they have been published in two

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  churches, as is very often the case, in one of those two churches. But this has been found to give rise to great inconvenience, and there is now no reason for maintaining the restriction. It is thought very much better that it should be left open to the parties who desire to be married to go to any church in the diocese they choose where the minister is willing to celebrate the marriage. In applying for the banns to be published the parties will have to state in what church they propose to get married. There can, therefore, be no concealment in the matter, and there is absolutely no danger of a clandestine marriage resulting from the restriction being repealed. The restriction was introduced in 1723 by the well-known Act of Lord Hardwicke, and has continued to the present day. Before Lord Hardwicke's Act it was open to persons desirous of being married to go to any other church in the diocese than that in which the banns had been published, and I think it is better on the whole that we should go back to that practice, now that the need for the restriction has passed away. Clause 7 deals with marriages of seamen, who are frequently put to considerable inconvenience owing to there being no recognised mode of publishing their banns. Often a sailor comes home and wishes to marry immediately, because, soon after, he will have to leave on another voyage. This clause provides that the banns of a seaman may be published in any church of the parish in which he usually dwells when not at sea, or, if his ship be in port, in any church within five miles of the ship. The eighth clause requires the parties applying for the publication of their banns to make a definite statement in writing containing those necessary particulars which hitherto the clergyman, generally speaking, has had to ascertain for himself. This will be a great relief to the clergyman. The ninth clause deals with marriage by licence, and provides that a marriage may be solemnised upon a licence duly issued from the registry of the Archbishop or Bishop of the diocese, and whether granted in the registry or through a surrogate, in any church within the diocese, provided one of the parties to be married under such licence shall have had his or her usual place of abode within the diocese for fifteen days before the granting of the licence, or upon a licence duly
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  issued from the registry of an archdeaconry—which is allowable in certain cases—in any church in any archdeaconry where such licences have been hitherto issued. In short, it gives the same liberty in respect to marriages by licence as Clause 6 gives in respect to marriages by banns. The tenth clause deals with marriages of seamen by licence, and the eleventh clause simply preserves the right of the Master of the Faculties and the Vicar-General of the Archbishop of Canterbury to grant licences. Under the twelth clause applicants are required to state precisely the names, descriptions, and usual place or places of abode of both parties and the name of the church in which the marriage is intended to be solemnised. When it is proposed to solemnise the marriage in a church in a parish in which neither of the parties have had his or her usual place of abode for fifteen days immediately before the granting of the licence, on the day such licence is granted notice will have to be sent by the person who obtained it to the minister of the church in which the marriage is to be solemnised. The fourteenth clause provides for the marriage of persons residing in canal or river boats or other movable dwellings, and proposes that, where either of the persons to be married shall be residing in a movable dwelling, the banns may be published in a church or chapel of the ecclesiastical parish in which the movable dwelling is at the time of the first publication of the banns, and a licence may be granted for the marriage of such person in any church or chapel in the diocese in which the movable dwelling is at the time of the granting of the licence. The fifteenth clause is a very important one, because it fixes the fees for marriages. In fixing the fees it is, of course, to be understood that there is no desire to prevent the parties who are married from giving very much more than the fee which is required of them. That is done at present in a very large number of cases, and there is no reason to discourage the practice. But at the same time it is of some importance that the fee which can be legally demanded should be the same in the church as in the registration office. There can be no question that in certain cases people do go to the registration office rather than to the church, because the fees in the

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  church of the parish where they live are higher than the fees in the registration office. The sixteenth clause is nothing more than a repetition of the law at it is at present, and the next clause provides that any false statement made knowingly by the parties shall be punishable as a misdemeanour. It is at present difficult to deal with false statements because they are not always reduced to writing. I have had some rather bad cases in which licences particularly have been obtained by false affidavits, and I have found that it was not possible to deal with these false affidavits at all. Clause 18 reserves the right of the Royal Family, and Clause 19 simply repeals certain clauses in former Acts which will be in- consistent with this Act. Of course, the clause might be omitted altogether, because this Act will repeal the clauses referred to ipso facto; but it is better that they should be distinctly inserted in order that the clergy may know exactly how these clauses stand. I believe, my Lords, that the Bill, if passed, will be of considerable advantage in many ways, that it will get rid of a great deal of friction, and that it will remove much discomfort and distress; and I feel very confident that nothing in it will give rise to any kind of abuse. I beg to move that the Bill be now read a second time.
  Moved, "That the Bill be now read a second time."—(The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury).
  THE LORD CHANCELLOR (The Earl of HALSBURY): My Lords, I rise, not for the purpose of asking your Lordships to reject this Bill, but to preserve my right to criticise the Bill in Committee. The marriage laws of the country are so extremely important that without great consideration we ought not to alter them. I think the most rev. Prelate has undervalued the effect of Lord Hardwicke's Act, which was passed to get rid of a mischievous and scandalous state of the law, and to remove a number of evils to which it is not necessary now to allude. I confess that I have some doubt about the repeal of that part of Lord Hardwicke's Act to which the most rev. Prelate has referred. The whole object of publishing the banns in the churches in which the marriage is to be solemnised is to give information to those who are likely to know the parties who are
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  going to be married. The most rev. Prelate now proposes to get rid of that provision. He proposes in the Bill that the parties shall state the church in which the marriage shall be solemnised, but he gets rid of the obligation to do it. There is no fortifying, as it were, of the provisions of the Bill. I cannot say at present that I have made up my mind whether or not this is too important an alteration of the law to be allowed to pass, but it is an alteration which requires very careful consideration.
  On Question, agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly.
  THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: This is a matter which might well be considered in Committee of the full House, and I move that the Standing Committee be negatived.
  Moved, "That the Standing Committee be negatived."—(The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.)
  THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY: As Chairman of the Standing Committee I should deprecate very much a Bill of this kind not going to that Committee. In my opinion it is a Bill which it is very desirable should be considered by the Standing Committee.
  THE EARL OF HALSBURY: I agree with the noble Earl. I do not think the motion is one to which the House can agree.
  Motion, by leave of the House, withdrawn.
  Bill committed to a Committee of the whole House on Friday next.

  BURIAL AUTHORITIES (CREMATION) BILL [H.L.]
  [SECOND READING.]
  Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
  LORD MONKSWELL: My Lords, this is a Bill to enable burial authorities to provide and maintain places and necessary appliances for cremation. There are several safeguards introduced in the Bill. In the first place, the plans of places for

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  cremation must be approved by the Secretary of State, who must also approve of all the bye-laws to be made under this Bill, and after having approved of them he may at any time require them to be submitted to him for revision or modification. It is proposed in the Bill that the bye-laws shall prescribe in what cases, in what mode, and under what conditions cremation may take place, and may prescribe the forms of the certificates and declarations to be given or made before cremation is permitted to take place. Clause 6 provides penalties for a breach of the bye-laws; Clause 7 deals with fees, which are to be approved by the Secretary of State; and the last clause provides that the Act shall not interfere with the jurisdiction of any coroners under the Coroners Act, 1887, or any Act amending the same, nor authorise the Burial Board or other local authority to create or permit a nuisance. The principle of cremation has been sanctioned over and over again by the Legislature, and all that this Bill proposes to do is to enable burial authorities to raise rates for the purpose of cremation without having to go to Parliament for a private Act. If no question of rating is involved cremation is perfectly legal at present. The principle of burning the bodies of dead persons is certainly gaining ground in public favour. The corporations of Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Hull have already obtained private Acts giving them powers to provide and maintain places for the carrying out of cremation, and at the present moment the corporation of the City of London have a Bill before your Lordships' House in which they ask for similar powers. I am informed that the revenue from cremations is steadily increasing, so much so that the Cremation Society now possesses a moderate surplus. I have been asked whether the Act is intended to apply to Scotland or Ireland. As the Bill at present stands, I think it would not so apply, because it merely amends the Burial Acts, and I am unable to discover any Burial Acts which apply to Scotland or Ireland of the kind dealt with in this Bill. But if it is thought better I will, in Committee, consent to an Amendment taking Scotland and Ireland specifically out of the purview of the Bill. The Bill is supported by the London County Council and is not treated by them as a party matter, both parties having approved of its principle.
  Moved, "That the Bill be now read a second time."—(Lord Monkswell.)
  THE EARL OF HALSBURY: This Bill raises very serious questions, and involves some considerations which may be local and some which are of a wide general character. I do not rise to oppose the Bill. On the contrary, it seems to me that this is a question on which there-ought to be some general law to regulate cremations, whether carried out by private-Act or not; and in any Act passed on the subject, of course it would be understood that, being an Act of general operation, it would overrule those cremation Acts which have already been obtained. All the provisions of this Bill will have to be very carefully considered.
  On Question, agreed to. Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the whole House.
  House adjourned at Five of the clock, till To-morrow, a quarter past Four of the clock.