Lords Sitting of 18 June 1906

Preamble
The Lord Thring took the Oath.
Charles Baron Ritchie of Dundee was (in the usual manner) introduced by virtue of a patent dated December 22nd, 1905, his father, the first Baron, who was created by such patent, never having taken his seat.

PRIVATE BILL BUSINESS.
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: Baker Street and Waterloo Railway; Lancashire Electric Power; St. Pancras Electricity; Tottenham and Edmonton Gas; Metropolitan District Railway; Kettering Water; Middlesex County Council (General Powers); North-west London a Railway; Bristol Corporation.
And also the certificates that the further Standing Orders applicable to the following Bills have not been complied with: Metropolitan Water Board; London County Council (Tramways and Improvements); London County Council (General Powers).
The same was ordered to lie on the Table.
London County Council (General Powers) Bill; London County Council (Tramways and Improvements) Bill; Metropolitan Water Board Bill. Examiner's certificates of non-compliance with the Standing Orders referred to the Standing Orders Committee on Friday next.
Sea Fisheries Provisional Order Bill; Lind Drainage Provisional Order Bill. Read 2a (according to order).
Corporation of London (Blackfriars and other Bridges) Bill. A petition of Messrs. Dyson and Company, of 9, Great George Street, Westminster, Parliamentary agents, praying for leave to
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present a petition of the Metropolitan Water Board, praying to be heard by counsel against the Bill, although the time limited by Standing Order No. 93 for presenting such petition has expired. Read, and ordered to lie on the Table, and Standing Order No. 93 to be considered to-morrow in order to its being dispensed with in respect of the said petition.
Nettlebed and District Commons (Preservation Bill [H.L.]. Reported, with Amendments.
London Squares and Enclosures Bill [H.L]. Report from the Committee of Selection, that the Lord Clinton be proposed to the House as a member of the Select Committee on the said Bill in the place of the Lord Digby. Read, and agreed to.
Western Valleys (Monmouthshire) Sewerage Board Bill [H.L.]. Read 3a; Amendments made; Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.
Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Staffordshire Electric Power Bill [H.L.]. Read 3a, and passed, and sent to the Commons.
Hackney Electricity Bill. Brought from the Commons. Read 1a and referred to the Examiners.
Private and Provisional Order Confirmation Bills. Ordered, that Standing Orders No. 72 and 82 be suspended for the remainder of the session.
Education Board Provisional Orders Confirmation (Kesteven, &c.) Bill [H.L.]. Order of the day for the Third Reading read, and discharged.

PETITIONS.
  EDUCATION.
  Petitions in favour of denominational religious teaching in schools, of teachers in schools at Levonshulme; Bolton; Stretford (2) and Chequerbent. Read, and ordered to lie on the Table.

  EDUCATION.
  Petitions in favour of maintenance of existing religious teaching in Church of

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  England schools, of parents and guardians of children attending school at Rochdale; St. Mary's; Stretford; All Saints'; St. Brides; Roughtown; Levenshulme; Bolton, and St. John's. Read, and ordered to lie on the Table.

  RETURNS, REPORTS, ETC.
    HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICES.
    Second Report from the Select Committee made, to be printed; and to be considered on Thursday next. (No. 125.)

    TRADE REPORTS: ANNUAL SERIES.
    No. 3638. Portugal (Madeira).
    No. 3639. France (Brest).
    No. 3640. Mexico.
    No. 3641. China (Newchwang).

    MISCELLANEOUS No. 1. (1906.)
    Reports from His Majesty's representatives abroad respecting the remuneration of Members of Parliament in foreign States.

    ELECTRIC LIGHTING ACTS, 1882 AND 1888.
    Special Report by the Board of Trade under Section 1 of the Electric Lighting Act, 1888.
    Presented (by command), and ordered to lie on the Table.
    Indian Railways Act Amendment Bill. Brought from the Commons and read 1a and to be printed.

  ALKALI, ETC., WORKS BILL.
  [SECOND READING.]
  Order of the day for the Second Reading read.
  THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES (Earl CARRINGTON): My Lords, I need not detain your Lordships for more than a minute or two in asking you to be good enough to accord a Second Reading to this Bill, the object of which is to consolidate and amend the Alkali, etc., Works Regulation Acts, 1881 and 1892.
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  There is only one clause to which I think I ought to draw the attention of the House—namely, Clause 8. By this clause it is proposed to place smelting works in the same position as cement works and to render them liable to inspection by an inspector of the Local Government Board. Smelting works will not, however, come under the Schedules. If any noble Lord desires to put a question to me with regard to this Bill I shall be very glad to answer it to the best of my ability. I beg to move the Second Reading.
  Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(Earl Carrington.)
  LORD BELPER: My Lords, I do not rise for the purpose of opposing the Second Reading of this Bill, but I have just received a communication from a gentleman who is very much interested in smelting works, and ho informs me that the proposal to include smelting works has been agreed to without any consultation with the manufacturers concerned. He asserts that this provision will be a most serious one for smelting works in this country. It will, he says, have a very deleterious effect upon them, and be likely to necessitate smelting being done abroad instead of in this country. I have had no time to examine the Bill, but I hope my correspondent is taking an exaggerated view of this provision. In the circumstances I trust that if the noble Earl presses the Second Reading to-day he will, before taking the Committee stage, allow ample time for communication with those interested in smelting works, so that they may have an opportunity, which they appear not to have had in the House of Commons, of stating their views.
  EARL CARRINGTON: My Lords, I should like to state that the Bill as introduced this year did not refer to smelting works, but in Committee in the other House the Hon. Arthur Stanley moved their inclusion, and, so far as I know, no objection was raised. It will be observed that the clause in question does not schedule smelting works and thus make them subject to the restrictions imposed on works which are scheduled; it merely authorises inspection. I shall be only too pleased to meet the wishes of the noble

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  Lord with regard to the date at which the Committee stage is taken. In the circumstances perhaps your Lordship's will allow the Bill to be read a second time as it stands. Clause 8 could then be taken on its merits in Committee.
  LORD BELPER: I have no objection to the Second Reading if ample time is allowed before the Committee stage is taken.
  On Question, Bill read 2a (according to order), and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.

  RESERVE FORCES BILL.
  Order of the Day for Committee read.
  *THE UNDER - SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The EARL of PORTSMOUTH): My Lords, perhaps I may be permitted to make a short explanation with regard to what happened on Thursday last. Viscount Knutsford objected to the Amendments which I had placed on the Paper, but my noble friend for once failed in his legal acumen and discovered what has since been proved to be a mare's nest. None of us on this side of the House could make out the exact point that my noble friend was raising. The Amendments have for their object the correction of an error which was overlooked in the House of Commons, and if my noble friend had afforded me an opportunity of going over the Amendments with him I think he would have seen that they were in order. In the circumstances I had no alternative but to postpone the Amendments until to-day, and I took that course in case there had been any inaccuracy in the drafting. But immediately after the House rose on Thursday I sent to my noble friend the Bill with the changes effected by the Amendments marked in ink. This, as I anticipated, quite cleared up the error under which my noble friend was labouring, and I received from him on Saturday morning a note to the effect that he was quite satisfied and assented to the insertion of the Amendments.
  House again in Committee (according to order).
  [The Earl of ONSLOW in the Chair.]
  Clause 1:—
  Amendments moved—
  In page 1, line 22, after the word "Kingdom" to insert the words ''or of British Protectorates;" in lines 26 and 27, to leave out the words "the expression 'His Majesty's Dominions outside the United Kingdom' shall include British Protectorates "; in line 28, to leave out the words "self-governing colony" and to insert the words "colony possessing responsible government"; and in page 2, line 2, to leave out the words "powers of self-government" and to insert the words "responsible government."—(The Earl of Portsmouth.)
  On Question, Amendments agreed to.
  Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.
  Remaining clauses agreed to.
  Standing Committee negatived. The Report of Amendments to be received to-morrow; and Bill to be printed as amended. (No. 127.)

  SEAMEN'S AND SOLDIERS' FALSE CHARACTERS BILL.
  Read 3a (according to order), and passed.
  JUVENILE SMOKING.
  Moved, That the Select Committee appointed to consider the Juvenile Smoking Bill [H.L.] be empowered to consider the question of juvenile smoking generally, and its effect on the physical condition of children; and to report whether any and, if so, what, alterations in the law are desirable or practicable with a view to stopping the sale of tobacco and cigarettes to children below a certain age (The Lord Denman); agreed to, and ordered accordingly.

  METROPOLITAN POLICE (COMMISSION) BILL.
  House in Committee (according to order): Bill reported without Amendment: Standing Committee negatived; and Bill to be read 3a To-morrow.
  House adjourned at a quarter before Five o'clock, till Tomorrow, half past Ten o'clock.