HL Deb 24 July 1912 vol 12 cc696-8

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(The Earl of Shaftesbury.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[The EARL OF DONOUGHMORE in the Chair.]

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

The Amendments which I have on the Paper are put down with a view of making the language in this Bill similar to the language used in the Act of 1880, and I merely submit them as suggestions to the noble Earl in charge of the Bill. I do not think they can have any effect upon the intention which the noble Earl has in view, and I merely suggest to him what I think would be better phraseology than that at present in the Bill. Statute time is defined by the Act of 1880, and the wording of that Act is as follows— Whenever any expression of time occurs in any Act of Parliament, deed, or other legal document, the time referred to shall, unless it is otherwise specifically stated, be held in the case of Great Britain to be Greenwich mean time and in the case of Ireland Dublin mean time. I suggest to the noble Earl that it would be much better to adhere to that language than to adopt the language in his Bill.

THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY

I am quite satisfied that the Amendments on the Paper do not infringe the spirit of the Bill but improve the drafting, and I accept them.

Clause 1:

Application of Greenwich Time to Ireland.

1. The official time to be kept in Ireland and in all public places and works therein shall be Greenwich time, and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Statutes (Definition of Time) Act, 1880, whenever any expression of time occurs in any Act of Parliament or in any rule, regulation, proclamation, or other document issued by or under any legal authority or in any deed or other legal instrument, the time referred to shall in the case of Ireland be deemed and held to he Greenwich time.

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

I move to leave out from the beginning of the clause down to "1880." The expression "official time" has really no meaning at On Question, all. It would only have a meaning if a definition were added stating what official time was. The same applies to the expression "kept"—official time should be "kept."

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 1, line 7, leave out from ("follows") to ("whenever") in line 11.—(Lord Ashby St. Ledgers.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

I move to omit from Clause 1 the words "or in any rule, regulation, proclamation, or other document issued by or under any legal authority or in any." These words also do not occur in the Act of 1880, and I do not think there is any occasion for inserting them here.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 1, line 12, leave out from ("Parliament") to ("deed") in line 14.—(Lord Ashby St. Ledgers.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

I move to insert, after Ireland, the words "unless it is otherwise specifically stated." Here I desire to again follow the language of the previous Statute. The words which I move to insert are with a view of saving the rights of private individuals who might desire to have some different time in a contract or document.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 1, line 15, after ("Ireland") insert ("(unless it is otherwise specifically stated)").—(Lord Ashby St. Ledgers.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

I move, after the word "Greenwich," to insert "mean." The insertion of this word is absolutely essential. We do not really keep celestial time. It is subject to certain vagaries; these are corrected, and if "mean" is not inserted here Ireland would be keeping different time from that kept in Great Britain.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 1, line 16, after("Green which") insert("mean").— (Lord Ashby St. Ledgers.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to—.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

The object of the next Amendment is to repeal the words "and in the case of Ireland, Dublin mean time" in Section 1 of the Statutes (Definition of Time) Act.

Amendment moved— After Clause 1, insert the following new clause:

"Amendment of 43 &44 Viet. c. 9.

"In section one of the Statutes (Definition of Time) Act, 1880, the words "and in the case of Ireland, Dublin mean time "are hereby repealed." —(Lord Ashby St. Ledgers.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Remaining Clause agreed to.

Preamble: Whereas it would be conducive to the convenience of the public that the time kept in Ireland should be the same as that kept in England and Scotland:

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

I suggest that there is no object in this Preamble. The title is sufficiently long, and it is not usual to insert Preambles unless there is some special reason for doing so.

Amendment moved— Leave out the Preamble.—(Lord Ashby St. Ledgers.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD ASHBY ST. LEDGERS

I do not wish it to be thought that in suggesting these Amendments the Government undertake any responsibility for the passing of the Bill. We have merely been assisting the noble Earl to put the Bill into proper form.

THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY

I quite understand that.

The Report of Amendments to be received To-morrow, and Bill to be printed as amended. (No. 130.)

Back to