Lords Sitting of 6 August 1914

CALLING OUT OF THE RESERVES AND EMBODIMENT OF THE TERRITORIAL FORCE.
His Majesty's answer to the Address of Tuesday last delivered by the Lord Steward (E. Chesterfield) and read as follows, viz.:
"I have received with great satisfaction the loyal and dutiful expression of your thanks for My Message communicating My intention to call out the Army Reserve on Permanent Service and to cause the Territorial Force to be embodied."
The Lord WEMYSS (E. Wemyss)—Sat first in Parliament after the death of his father.
WIMBLEDON CORPORATION BILL. [H.L.]
BRISTOL CORPORATION (TRAMWAYS) BILL. [H.L.]
PORTHCAWL URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL BILL. [H.L.]
Commons Amendments considered, and agreed to.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDER (No. 18) BILL.
Reported from the Select Committee, with Amendments, and re-committed to a Committee of the Whole House forthwith.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDER (No. 19) BILL.
Reported, with Amendments, and recommitted to a Committee of the Whole House forthwith.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDER (No. 3) BILL.
Reported from the Select Committee without amendment, and re-committed to a Committee of the Whole House Tomorrow.
YORK CORPORATION BILL.
SHEFFIELD CORPORATION BILL.
Moved, That Standing Order No. 143 be dispensed with, and that the Bills he now read 3—, agreed to: Bills read 3ª accordingly with the Amendments, and passed, and returned to the Commons.
ANGLO-PERSIAN OIL COMPANY (ACQUISITION OF CAPITAL) BILL.
EAST AFRICAN PROTECTORATE (LOANS) BILL.
Brought from the Commons, endorsed with the Certificate of the Speaker that the Bills are Money Bills within the meaning of the Parliament Act, 1911.
COUNTY TOWN AND PARISH COUNCILS (QUALIFICATION) (SCOTLAND) BILL.
DISEASES OF ANIMALS (IRELAND) BILL.
ENTAILS (SCOTLAND) BILL.
FEUDAL CASUALTIES (SCOTLAND) BILL.
INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION (IRELAND) BILL.
ISLE OF MAN (CUSTOMS) BILL.
MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL.
MERCHANT SHIPPING (CONVENTION) BILL.
MILK AND DAIRIES (SCOTLAND) BILL.
METROPOLITAN POLICE (EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND) (No. 2) BILL.
Brought from the Commons.

KIRKCALDY CORPORATION ORDER CONFIRMATION BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1ª; to be printed; and (pursuant to the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1899), deemed to have been read 2ª. (The Lord Emmott), and reported from the Committee, and Bill to be read 3ª Tomorrow. (No. 220.)
WESLEYAN AND GENERAL ASSURANCE SOCIETY BILL. [H.L.]
GLASGOW CORPORATION (TRAMWAYS, &c.) BILL. [H.L.]
GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY (PENSION FUND) BILL. [H.L.]
WESTON-SUPER-MARE URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL BILL. [H.L.]
Returned from the Commons, agreed to, with Amendments: The said Amendments considered, and agreed to.
PIER AND HARBOUR PROVISIONAL ORDERS (No. 2) BILL.
CLYDE NAVIGATION ORDER CONFIRMATION BILL.
WEYMOUTH AND MELCOMBE REGIS CORPORATION BILL.
CLERGY MUTUAL ASSURANCE SOCIETY BILL.
ISLE OF THANET GAS BILL.
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL (MONEY) BILL.
CITY OF LONDON (VARIOUS POWERS) BILL.
OXFORD AND DISTRICT TRAMWAYS BILL.
HAYWARD'S HEATH GAS BILL.
NEWCASTLE-UP0N-TYNE CORPORATION BILL.
OSSETT CORPORATION BILL.
WALSALL CORPORATION BILL.
ST. ANNE'S-ON-THE-SEA IMPROVEMENT BILL.
Returned from the Commons, with the Amendments, agreed to.

COMMITTEE OF SELECTION.
Report from, with an Appendix made, and to be printed. (No. 237.)

REAL PROPERTY AND CONVEYANCING BILL. [H.L.]
THE LORD CHANCELLOR (VISCOUNT HALDANE): My Lords, I beg to introduce a Bill to amend the law of property and of settlements, to abolish copyhold and other special tenures, to simplify the title to and transfer of land, and to amend the Settled Land Acts, 1882 to 1899, the Trustee Act, 1893, and the Land Transfer Acts. 1875 to 1897, and I move that the Bill be read a first time. I make this Motion for the purpose of having the Bill printed. Your Lordships may remember that last year I introduced two Bills, one to amend the law of real property and the other to amend the law of conveyancing. Those two Bills have been much sifted during the last 12 months. The Incorporated Law Society has given both Bills much thought, and in the light of the experience which has since been gained the two Bills have now been thrown into one. In the present Bill we have been able to meet various points. The noble Viscount on the Front Opposition Bench will be glad to hear that the Statute of Uses is much cut down.
VISCOUNT ST. ALDWYN: Hear, hear.
THE LORD CHANCELLOR: The Bill in its present form is a considerable advance on what we had previously worked out to the best of our ability. What I wish to do is to get the Bill printed so that it may be further considered, in its present form. The subject is too vast to proceed rapidly in the matter of legislation regarding it, but I hope that it may be possible to deal with the matter effectively next session.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 1ª(The Lord Chancellor.)
On Question, Bill read 1ª, and to be printed. (No. 221.)
Ordered, That there be laid before the House a Memorandum respecting the Real Property and Conveyancing Bill (The Lord Chancellor).

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.
Standing Order No. XXXIX considered (according to Order), and suspended for the remainder of the Session.

PRIVATE AND PROVISIONAL ORDER CONFIRMATION BILLS.
THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES (THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE): My Lords, I beg to move the Motion which stands in my name. In doing so if wish to say that one word has to be added in four places. I wish to add the word "personal" so that this may apply to Private, Personal, or Provisional Order Bills. The object, of course, is to preserve the right also of Personal Bills.
Moved to resolve—
That the promoters of every Private, Personal, or Provisional Order Confirmation Bill which shall have been introduced into this House in the present Session of Parliament, and which shall have passed this House and been sent to the House of Commons, or which shall be pending in this House, shall have leave to suspend any further proceedings thereon in order to proceed with the same if they shall think fit in the next Session of Parliament, provided that notice of their intention to do so be lodged in the Private Bill Office not later than Three o'clock on the day prior to the close of the present Session; and that all fees due thereon, up to that period, be paid;
That an alphabetical list of all such Bills, with a statement of the stages at which they shall have arrived, shall be prepared in the Private Bill Office, and printed;
That such Bills shall be deposited in the Private Bill Office not later than Three o'clock on or before the third day on which the House shall sit after the next meeting of Parliament, with a declaration annexed thereto, signed in the case of a Private or Personal Bill by the agent, and in the case of a Provisional Order Confirmation Bill by an officer of the department by which the Orders to be confirmed by such Bill are made, stating that the Bill is the same in every respect as the Bill at the last stage of the proceedings thereon in this House in the present Session, and where any sum of money has been deposited, as required by Standing Order No. 57, that such deposit has not been withdrawn, together with a certificate of that fact, from the proper officer of the court in which such money was deposited;
That the proceedings on such Bills shall be pro formâ only in regard to every stage through which the same shall have passed in the present Session; and that no new fees he charged in regard to such stages;
That as regards all Private, Personal, and Provisional Order Confirmation Bills which shall have been brought from the House of Commons in the present Session such Bills shall be allowed to proceed to the same stage at which they shall have arrived in the present Session, on the same conditions as those set forth in the preceding Orders in respect of Bills originating in this House; the declaration to be signed as aforesaid, stating that the Bill is in every respect the same as when brought to this House in this Session;
That if any such Bill shall have been amended in this House in the present Session, the same Amendments shall be inserted by the Committee on the Bill;
That the Standing Orders by which the proceedings on Bills are regulated shall not apply to any Private, Personal, or Provisional Order Confirmation Bill which shall have originated in this House or been brought up from the House of Commons in the present
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Session, in regard to any of the stages through which the same shall have passed;
That all petitions presented in this Session relating to any Private Bill shall, if necessary, be referred to the Committee on the Bill in the next Session;
That no petitioners shall be heard before the Committee on any Bill unless their petition shall have been presented within the time limited in the present Session, unless that time shall not have expired before it closes, in which case, in order to be heard, their petition shall be presented not later than the fourth day on which the House shall sit in the next Session.—(The Chairman of Committees.)
On Question, Motion agreed to, and ordered accordingly, and a Message ordered to be sent to the Commons to acquaint them with the said Resolution and to desire their concurrence.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDER (No. 18) BILL.
House in Committee (according to Order): The Amendments proposed by the Select Committee made: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended): Amendments reported: Bill read 3ª, and passed, and returned to the Commons.
LOCAL GOVRRNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDER (No. 19) BILL.
House in Committee (according to Order): The Amendments proposed by the Committee made: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended): Amendments reported: Bill read 3ª, and passed, and returned to the Commons.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDER (No. 20) BILL.
Read 3ª (according to Order), and passed.
EDINBURGH AND DISTRICT WATER ORDER CONFIRMATION BILL. [H.L.]
Read 3ª (according to Order), and passed, and sent to the Commons.

MALL APPROACH IMPROVEMENT BILL.
Order of the Day for the Third Reading read.
THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (EARL BEAUCHAMP): My Lords, in moving the Third Reading of this Bill perhaps I ought to explain to your Lordships that I am unable, on consideration, to meet the wishes which were expressed in another place when this Bill was there considered. The suggestion was made that the period during which the building should be finished should be reduced from three years to two years, but I do not think that in the present state of the finances of the country it is desirable to apply any greater stringency than there is at the present moment. Therefore, with your Lordships' approval, I would venture to leave the Bill as it is at present in view of the special circumstances.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 3ª.— (Earl Beauchamp.)
On Question, Bill read 3ª and passed.

THE EUROPEAN CRISIS.
*THE LORD PRIVY SEAL AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (THE MARQUESS OF CREWE): My Lords, later in the evening I shall have to make some further observations with reference to the financial situation in respect to the Currency Bill which will be coining up from another place before very long, and with which, of course, I cannot in any way deal until it has formally reached us. But before that occurs I think the House may expect that I should make a few general observations on the situation of foreign affairs so far as it, has now developed. The main facts are, of course, familiar to the House from the newspapers. The newspapers, under the obligation which they feel to supply all possible information to the public, contain a number of items of news which for the time being cannot be verified, but so far as the general course of events is concerned the public, through the newspapers, is as well informed as those can be who have access to official information.
I desire to make one or two observations as to the circumstances in which, to our profound regret, we find ourselves engaged in war with Germany. It is important to
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note, with regard to the chain of circumstances which has brought about this event, that we have been under no engagement either to France or to Russia beyond what is known to the House and to the public at large. There were no secret engagements or understandings between us and any of the Powers with whom we were friendly. But it is important to observe two points in which, in our view, the national honour and the national interests were alike involved. In the first place, there was the question of the neutrality of Belgium. I need not enter into any historical description of that neutrality, which was provided for by the Treaty of 1839, to which the Great European Powers as they were at that time—not, of course, precisely the same as are the Great Powers now—were parties. That Treaty ensuring the neutrality of Belgium was not merely collective in character. It was a Treaty which in practice made it an obligation upon any one of the signatories to protest against, in the first place, and, in the second place, to prevent if possible, any infringement of it either from outside or by one of the parties to the Treaty itself. It might have been possible that a difficulty would arise if the infringement of the neutrality of Belgium had taken place with Belgian consent. With that difficulty we were not confronted. Belgium, as we know, has not merely protested with vigour against the infringement of her neutrality, but she is showing a splendid spirit in resisting it. We are therefore not concerned with what might have resulted from the position in which we should have been placed in the face of Europe if Belgium had agreed to the passage of German troops through her territory. The view that we have taken is that any violation in substance of the neutrality of Belgium would make us take part in supporting the maintenance of that obligation, an obligation infringed by those equally bound with ourselves to regard it as absolutely sacred.
Then there was another question which we had to consider in relation to the possible position. That was the question of what might happen at sea. It was an aspect which not only affected our friends in France, but also directly affected us. Everybody will remember that during a long period of years, even centuries, our defences faced France. Our great naval stations were all on the coast facing France, and in consequence our powerful defences

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were there. But when the understanding with France came about, the position to a certain extent automatically changed. The direct effect of that understanding was the weakening of the French maritime defence in the Channel and the corresponding weakening of our maritime defence in the Mediterranean. Your Lordships will see that that result was inevitable, without any formal arrangement between the two Powers that each should fill the gap left by the other. As a matter of fact, there was no formal arrangement of that kind. We had no arrangement with France to defend France in the Channel; she had not agreed to take our place in the Mediterranean. But that position was the inevitable result of the friendly agreement between the two Powers, since neither kept a large force in a place at which it could only be directed against the other. That was the effect of our friendship upon the distribution of the Fleet.
But that is by no means the only point which was in our minds with reference to the possible use by the German Navy, if war between France and Germany broke out, of the British Channel. We felt that our national interest and security were also deeply involved in any such use of our neighbouring seas, even beyond what are technically called British waters, by the Navy of Germany. I do not believe that it would in any case have been possible, whether we were engaged in this conflict or not, for this country to witness passively the sight of the narrow seas becoming the theatre of a great naval conflict. At no period, I think, would it have been easy for the country to tolerate such a position. But now, with the enormously increased range of weapons and with the vastly increased speed of vessels of different kinds it would have been absolutely impossible. In fact, it seems to me, my Lords, that it was practically necessary for us to declare, in relation to the waters immediately contiguous to this country, something in the nature of the Monroe Doctrine as it is understood in America. The Americans, as we all know, would assert and enforce that doctrine not merely over such waters as Chesapeake Bay, though those waters are not, according to the European standard, territorial water, but over such a great stretch as the Gulf of Mexico itself; and in our view it was almost imperative that some such doctrine in the case of war between France and Germany should be
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asserted by us. And these are, generally speaking, the reasons why Sir Edward Grey gave the assurance to M. Cambon which your Lordships will find at page 74, No. 148, of the White Paper [Cd. 7467], to this effect—
"I am authorised to give an assurance that if the German Fleet conies into the Channel or through the North Sea to undertake hostile operations against French coasts or shipping, the British Fleet will give all the protection in its power."
In addition to that, my Lords, there was the further question of our food supply and the possible risk which might be run by that, greatly enhanced if a war between France and Germany, we being at peace, had led to a development of the situation which threatened us and compelled us to be involved. In that case the free use of those waters by even a potential enemy would have made most acute and difficult that problem of the maintenance of our food supply which is, of course, of such tremendous importance to us in this country.
I pass to some of the further developments. Our general attitude was decided, as I have said, by those two considerations—in the first instance, that of the possible infringement of the neutrality of Belgium; and, in the second place, by the threatening aspect of affairs in the waters immediately surrounding these islands. But in the meantime various things had happened. Sir Edward Grey had been in perpetual communication, friendly communication, with the representatives of all the great Powers; and on July 29 a telegram came from Berlin conveying an offer from the German Government to us. The German Chancellor asked our Ambassador to call upon him and he made an offer to Great Britain to this effect: He understood that it had been the main principle of our policy that we would not see France finally crushed in a conflict; and therefore, he said,—
"Provided that the neutrality of Great Britain were certain, every assurance would be given to the British Government that the Imperial Government aimed at no territorial acquisitions at the expense of France should they prove victorious in any war that might ensue."
Sir Edward Goschen goes on to say that he questioned His Excellency about the French colonies, and he said that he was unable to give a similar undertaking in that respect. The Chancellor went on to say that it depended upon the action of France

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what operations Germany might be forced to enter upon in Belgium, but when the war was over Belgian integrity would be respected if she had not sided against Germany. One desires to speak with moderation, but I cannot help saying that this offer was of such a nature that, if it had been made between private persons in their private affairs, a man of the most restrained habit could only have responded to it by declining the further acquaintance of the man who offered it, and a person of hot temper would be likely to respond to it with a blow. Sir Edward Grey, in his reply—No. 101 in the White Papers—showed his sense and our sense of what such an offer meant. He said—
"What he asks us in effect is to engage to stand by while French colonies are taken and France is beaten so long as Germany does not take French territory as distinct from the colonies. From the material point of view such a proposal is unacceptable, for France, without further territory in Europe being taken from her, could be so crushed as to lose her position as a Great Power, and become subordinate to German policy."
Sir Edward Grey went on to say—
"The Chancellor also in effect asks us to bargain away whatever obligation or interest we have as regards the neutrality of Belgium. We could not entertain that bargain either."
That was a quite direct reply. But Sir Edward Grey concluded by saying that if the present crisis could safely be passed his endeavour would be—
"to promote some arrangement to which Germany could be a party, by which she could be assured that no aggressive or hostile policy would be pursued against her or her allies by France, Russia, and ourselves jointly or separately."
And looking back the House will see that, in spite of what had occurred, Sir Edward Grey remained untiring in his efforts to preserve peace. On July 31 Sir Edward Grey telegraphed to Sir Edward Goschen his hope that the conversations proceeding between Austria and Russia might lead to a satisfactory result. He went on to say that—
"It has occurred to me that, in the event of this mistrust preventing a solution being found by Vienna and St. Petersburgh, Germany might sound Vienna, and I would undertake to sound St. Petersburgh, whether it would be possible for the four disinterested Powers to offer to Austria that they would undertake to see that she obtained full satisfaction of her demands on Servia, provided that they did not impair Servian sovereignty and the integrity of Servian territory."
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Sir Edward Grey went further still. He went on to remark—
"I said to the German Ambassador this morning that if Germany could get any reasonable proposal put forward which made it clear that Germany and Austria were striving to preserve European peace, and that Russia and France would be unreasonable if they rejected it, I would support it at St. Petersburgh and Paris, and go the length of saying that if Russia and France would cot accept it, His Majesty's Government would have nothing more to do with the consequences; but, otherwise, I told the German Ambassador that if France became involved we should be drawn in."
That was on July 31. On the same day Sir Edward Goschen had spent an hour with the Secretary of State, urging him most strongly to accept the proposal and to make another effort to prevent the terrible catastrophe of European war. And, my Lords, now we find that Germany and some of the other Powers involved are endeavouring to explain that it was not they who had forced the situation, but that the opposing parties, either by mobilising or by some action of the kind, had made it impossible for them to stand out.
When these interchanges and telegrams have been studied, I believe that history will say that Germany might have stood honourably aloof. She was not directly threatened and never need have been directly threatened by any mobilisation of the Russian troops; and it will, I think, be difficult for Germany to explain how it came about that, even at the last moment, she did not put stronger pressure upon her Austrian allies to accept in substance the almost abject submission which Servia offered, and the rejection of which was the original cause of the partial mobilisation of Russia. I think we must all feel, my Lords, that in the whole of this vast theatre of conflict there is nobody to whom greater sympathy ought to be extended by all than to our Foreign Secretary. During all the anxious weeks of the Balkan wars the representatives of the Powers toiled here in London for the preservation of peace. He laboured more abundantly than they all, and in proportion to those labours must necessarily be the disappointment and chagrin with which he now witnesses the destruction of those labours, which for the time at any rate seemed to be so fruitful and to promise the permanent peace of Europe.
This is no time to indulge in reflections of a general character, but I cannot help observing that it is almost the most em-

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bittering feature in the whole situation that this tremendous crisis and conflict, caused if you will to some extent by dynastic ambition or by a racial rivalry founded on ignorance, yet in the main must be described as having come into being, not so much in spite of our extended material civilisation, but even almost because of it. The perpetual growth in facilities of communication and transport, the ever-increasing applications of science to armaments, the ever-quickening consciousness of international rivalry among the nations, born, one cannot deny, to some extent from the developments of education and from half assimilated knowledge supplied by an excited Press—all those have tended to make this outbreak more frightfully sudden and more amazingly widespread than could possibly have been the case in a state of civilisation less advanced. Very possibly the passions of days gone by might have been as vigorous and as bitter, but the power of their expression would have been eminently less. There would have been a longer time for consideration, there would have been a better chance than there has been for the opinion of the sober-minded to assert itself, and most certainly there would have been a less appalling prospect in the actual collision than there is at this moment. All that we can do is to keep our heads as cool as we can and to keep our hearts up, and we must keep our minds set on the direct course which we believe is dictated both by honour and by regard for the interests of this country.
*THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE: The noble Marquess, during the course of his speech, referred more than once to the documents contained in the White Paper which lies on your Lordships' Table. May I, at the outset of my remarks, say a word of protest as to the manner in which this House has been treated in respect of the production of these Papers. They have been freely quoted in the Press, and I have reason to believe that they have been in the hands of members of the other House of Parliament; but my knowledge, and I am afraid the knowledge of many of your Lordships, of these important Despatches depends really upon what we have been able to collect from the published extracts which appeared in the daily papers this morning. I must say that that seems to me to denote very serious mismanagement at one point or another.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWE: I am very sorry.
THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE: These documents and the account of them which the noble Marquess has given to us cannot have failed to produce a profound impression upon public opinion in this country. No one can peruse them even in a most perfunctory manner without coming to the conclusion that the case which His Majesty's Government are able to make for the action which they are taking at this grave crisis is an even stronger case than many of us had supposed. I am sure that there is no member of this House who does not, from the bottom of his heart, abhor and detest the idea of involving this country in war. But there are some terms upon which peace would be unendurable, and I am bound to say that these Despatches seem to me to establish beyond doubt that the provocation which this country has received is one which no self-respecting country could have endured.
And, my Lords, I desire to give full credit to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for the efforts which he has made throughout to maintain unbroken the peace of Europe, up to the supreme effort which he made on July 31 last—an effort which, as the noble Marquess told us just now, might well have been successful if there had been genuine good will on the other side. I am quite unable to read Sir Edward Grey's Despatch without the feeling that those to whom it was addressed, far from desiring peace, had set their hearts upon war. Our diplomacy seems to have been throughout absolutely sincere. I wish I could say the same of the diplomacy to which it has been opposed. I do not think any one can have failed to be deeply shocked by what I can only describe as the cynical attempt made to bribe this country, and not this country alone, into a disregard both of its Treaty obligations and of those other obligations which are not less sacred because they are not embodied in a signed and sealed document.
Under the one category there fall our Treaty obligations to Belgium, and I am sure your Lordships must have observed with admiration the gallant attempt which the Belgian Army has made to stand up against overpowering odds in the defence of the City of Liége. To the other category belong our obligations to France—obliga-

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tions of honour, which have grown up in consequence of the close intimacy by which the two nations have been united during the last few eventful years. I say unhesitatingly that if the Government of this country had ignored either the one class of obligation or the other, we should never have been able to look either friends or enemies in the face again. And, my Lords, I willingly pay my tribute of admiration to the dignity and firmness with which those attempts have been met by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in this country. We may at any rate say this, that we embark in this tremendous contest with no sinister ambition, no unavowable motives, with a clear conscience and with clean hands, and, I believe, with the public opinion of this country behind us. The noble Marquess knows—he knows it from unofficial as well as from official sources—that in the action which he and his colleagues are taking to uphold the interests and the reputation of this country he has our ungrudging support; and I believe I may add that he has not only our support but the support of every right-thinking man in this country.

COUNTY AND BOROUGH COUNCILS (QUALIFICATION) (No. 3) BILL.
[SECOND READING.]
Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
THE PAYMASTER-GENERAL (LORD STRACHIE): My Lords, the object of this Bill is to extend the qualification for membership of county and borough councils. It provides that notwithstanding anything in the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, or any other Act, any person of either sex shall be qualified to be elected and to be a councillor or alderman of a county council or of a borough council, and may be nominated for election as a councillor if that person has resided within the county or borough, as the case may be, during the whole of the twelve months preceding the election. The Bill does not extend at all the qualification for voting and will not increase the voters list by one person. But, on the other hand, the Bill will, as I have said, enable persons of either sex who have been residents for twelve months in the district to be elected to a county or borough council.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 2ª.—(Lord Strachie.)
EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTON: My Lords, I should like to say one word in support of this Bill. It is, as the noble Lord has pointed out, a Bill for the removal of an anomaly, I believe an accidental anomaly, in the state of the present law, but an unfortunate anomaly in so far as under it married women are prevented from being elected to and serving upon borough and county councils, except, I believe, in London. They may be elected to, and may serve upon, district councils, parish councils, boards of guardians, and other smaller units of local government, but on the larger and more important bodies they are prevented from serving. I am one of those who have given, and will continue to give, an unhesitating opposition to the granting of the Parliamentary vote to women, but I have always held that local government, which administers an immense mass of law dealing with such questions as sanitation and disease, the care and education of the young, the care of the sick and destitute, and matters of that kind, is emphatically a sphere in which the activities and services of women may appropriately be utilised; and of all women capable of serving in such capacities married women, by reason of their experience, are the most fit. For my own part, therefore, though I am an anti-suffrage man, I welcome the proposal contained in this Bill, and I do not imagine there is any one on this side of the House who will dissent from what I have said in the matter.
On Question, Bill read 2ª.
Committee negatived: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 3ª, and passed.

COAL MINES BILL.
[SECOND READING.]
Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
*VISCOUNT ALLENDALE: My Lords, this measure is intended to repair an omission in Section 11 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911. By inadvertence the provisions of Section 11 of that Act were not extended so as to cover the case of an owner or an agent taking part in the technical management of a mine. It is obvious that there should be the same power of depriving an owner or agent, who is unfit by reason of

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incompetence or other reason to take part in the technical management, of his certificate as exists in the case of a manager; and the increase of large colliery companies with a managing director in supreme control makes this all the more necessary. I do not suppose that your Lordships will wish me to go into the details of the Bill. I may say that it is an agreed Bill as between the colliery owners and the representatives of the men, in consultation with the Home Office, who have gone into the matter very carefully. The Bill passed through the other House on the motion of my right hon. friend the Home Secretary one day last week with even fewer words than those with which I am introducing the Bill to your Lordships to-night. If any further explanation of the details of the Bill is considered necessary by your Lordships, I will endeavour to give it. I beg to move.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 2ª.— (Viscount Allendale.)
On Question, Bill read 2ª.
Committee negatived: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 3ª, and passed.

NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT, 1911 (PART II AMENDMENT) BILL.
[SECOND READING.]
Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
THE EARL OF GRANARD: My Lords, as your Lordships will see from its title, this is a Bill to amend Part II of the National Insurance Act, 1911. It involves no great change of policy. It benefits in some cases the employer and in other cases the workman. As regards the employer the most important clause is Clause 5, which simplifies the conditions for a refund to employers under Section 94 of the main Act. The workman gets advantages both under Clause 1 and Clause 14. The rest of the Bill is mainly of an administrative character, and I venture to ask your Lordships to be good enough to give it a Second Reading.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 2ª.—(The Earl of Granard.)
On Question, Bill read 2ª, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House Tomorrow.

EDUCATION (PROVISION OF MEALS) BILL.
[SECOND READING.]
Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
EARL BEAUCHAMP: My Lords, I said something on the subject of this Bill Yesterday when I asked your Lordships to be good enough to give it a First Reading. I hope, with the concurrence of the House, to get it through its other Readings this afternoon in order that it may receive the Royal Assent without delay. As I said yesterday, I am quite sure that the provisions of the Bill will be of the greatest value in so far as they will allow local authorities to proceed in the direction of feeding school children, such school children, especially, as will he in distress during the next few weeks. The Bill is only an extension of the provisions of the Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906. That Act laid down four conditions with regard to the provision of meals. First, the authorities must resolve that the children who receive the meals are unable, by reason of lack of food, to take advantage of education; secondly, they must ascertain either that public funds are not available or that the funds are insufficient for the purpose; thirdly, they must get the sanction of the Board of Education; and, fourthly, they were given a limit of a rate of a halfpenny in the £ above which they might not spend any money on this object, and in the case of a county council the rate must not be more than a half-penny in the £ over the areas in which the meals were provided.
The first and second conditions are not interfered with, but this Bill abolishes the third and fourth conditions. Those of your Lordships who take an interest in this matter will remember that at the time the Act of 1906 was introduced it was largely looked upon as an experimental measure, but now that the experience of the authorities has shown the value of this provision I venture to think that this Bill will receive very nearly unanimous support in the country. In 1912–13 there were 122 out of 256 urban authorities providing meals under the Act. The proportion of county councils, of course, was naturally smaller; there were only 12 out of 66. Of the authorities which I mention two counties and 22 towns only were providing meals from voluntary sources; in all the other cases they came from the rates. This Bill gives power to local education authorities

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to feed children during holidays, on Saturdays, and on Sundays; and it is that provision of which we expect advantage will specially be taken by local authorities during the next few weeks. I beg to move.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 2ª.—(Earl Beauchamp.)
VISCOUNT ST. ALDWYN: My Lords, I am very glad that His Majesty's Government have brought in this Bill, because only the other day the local education authority in my county, with which the noble Earl also is connected, felt themselves obliged, in the case of the children of certain miners belonging to some collieries which were closed, to agree, contrary to the law, to feed the children during the holidays. This Bill restores us to the position of law-abiding citizens, in which we are very glad to remain.
On Question, Bill read 2ª.
Committee negatived: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 3ª, and passed.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION (DEFECTIVE AND EPILEPTIC CHILDREN) BILL.
Read 3ª, with the Amendments, and passed, and returned to the Commons.

EXPIRING LAWS CONTINUANCE BILL.
Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
LORD STRACHIE: My Lords, this Bill is exactly like the Expiring Laws Continuance Bills of previous years, with the exception that this year the Bill renews the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act, 1912, which expires on March 31 next, and also certain sections of the Insurance Act, 1911, which expires on the same day. Those are the only alterations. The Bill is otherwise the hardy annual which comes before your Lordships' House every session. I beg to move.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 2ª.—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Bill read 2ª.
Committee negatived: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 3ª, and passed.

MILK AND DAIRIES BILL.
Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.
Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
House in Committee accordingly.
[The EARL OF DONOUGHMORE in the Chair.]
Clauses 1 to 4 agreed to.
Clause 5:
Power to take to samples of milk
5—(1) It shall be lawful for an inspector of the Local Government Board, or the medical officer of health of a local authority, or any person provided with and, if required, exhibiting an authority in writing from such an inspector or from the local authority or medical officer of health, to take for examination samples of milk at any time before it is delivered to the consumer. Provided that the powers of a medical officer of health and of a person authorised by him or by the local authority under this section shall, except so far as the Local Government Board may otherwise direct, be exercisable only within the area of the local authority.
(2) The result of an analysis or bacteriological or other examination of a sample of milk taken tinder this Act shall not be admissible as evidence in proceedings under this Act, or in proceedings under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907, unless the provisions of the last-mentioned Acts which relate to the division of samples into parts are complied with, but if those provisions have been complied with, the result of the analysis shall be available for proceedings under the said Acts (as if it had been procured in accordance with those Acts) as well as for proceedings under this Act.
(3) The medical officer of health or any other officer authorised for the purpose by a local authority within the area of which milk from any dairy situate outside that area is being sold or exposed or kept for sale, may by notice in writing require the medical officer of health or other authorised officer of any other local authority being an authority for the purposes of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907, to take samples of the milk at that dairy or in the course of transit from that dairy to the area of the first-mentioned local authority.
(4) Upon receipt of such notice it shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, be the duty of the medical officer of health or other authorised officer of the other authority as soon as practicable to take samples and to forward, for analysis or bacteriological examination, to the officer who gave the notice a part of any sample so taken, and in taking a sample the officer shall, if so required by the notice, comply with the provisions of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907, which relate to the division of samples into parts.
The authority requiring the samples to be taken shall be liable to defray any reasonable expenses incurred, the amount whereof shall in default of agreement be settled by the Local Government Board.
For the purpose of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907, the sample shall be deemed to have been taken within the area of the officer who gave the notice, and proceedings under those Acts may be taken either before a court having jurisdiction within the district for which that officer acts or before a court having jurisdiction in the place where the sample was actually taken.
(5) In any proceedings under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907, or this Act, the production of a certificate of the officer who took the sample under this section that the provisions of this section, as to the manner in which samples are to be dealt with, were complied with shall he sufficient evidence of compliance, unless the defendant requires that officer to be called as a witness.
(6) In the exercise at any railway station or upon any railway premises of the powers conferred upon them by this section, such inspector, medical officer of health, or other person so authorised as aforesaid shall conform to such reasonable requirements of the railway company owning or using such station or premises as are necessary to prevent the working of the traffic thereat being obstructed or interfered with.
LORD STRACHIE:My Lords, I have on the Paper an Amendment to add a proviso at the end of subsection (2) of Clause 5. The object of the Amendment, which was strongly pressed upon the President of the Local Government Board in the House of Commons by Mr. Sanderson, is to protect persons engaged in the milk trade from being prosecuted in respect of milk which is not under their control. This has always been a vexed question among agriculturists. It has been recognised to he unfair that a man should be fined for adulterated milk over which he had no control. Therefore it seems only right that, when we are dealing with the whole of this milk question, a provision should be inserted to remove this injustice.
Amendment moved—
Page 5, line 22, after ("Act") insert ("provided that no proceedings shall be taken against any person unless at the time the sample was taken the milk was in his custody or control or was contained in a churn or other receptacle which had been sealed or closed in accordance with a Milk and Dairies Order.").—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Clause 5, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 6 and 7 agreed to.
Clause 8:
Regulations as to imported milk.
8. The Local Government Board shall make regulations under the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907, for the prevention of danger arising to public health from the importation of milk and milk products intended for sale for human consumption or for use in the manufacture of products for human consumption.
THE EARL OF NORTHBROOK: My Lords, I should like to ask the noble Lord in charge of the Bill a question. This clause provides for the Local Government Board making regulations for the prevention of danger arising to public health from the importation of milk and milk products. The Bill will not extend to Scotland or Ireland, and I wish to know whether the word "importation" includes milk that would be brought into England from Scotland or Ireland. I might explain that I ask this question because the President of the Local Government Board was questioned in the other House of Parliament on this matter, and he stated that he was advised that "importation" under the Customs Act means importation from a foreign country, but he admitted that it may be a point of doubt whether in this Bill it would hear the same interpretation. He further said that he would consider whether any drafting Amendment was needed before the Bill came to your Lordships' House. I observe that the noble Lord in charge of the Bill has no Amendment to this clause on the Paper. Therefore I should like to ask him what the considered view of the Local Government Board now is with regard to the interpretation of the word "importation."
LORD STRACHIE: My Lords, I may say that I was myself present when the discussion took place in the Grand Committee of the House of Commons, and I heard exactly what the noble Earl has told the House. I made inquiries as to what the effect would be, and I am assured that the considered opinion of the Local Government Board is that the position of milk coining from Scotland and Ireland would be just the same as milk coming from a foreign country. There would be the same power of forbidding it being brought here, if necessary.
THE EARL OF NORTHBROOK: I do not know whether the position is quite a satisfactory one. Scotland has, or at any rate very soon will have, a Bill con-

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taining provisions very similar to those contained in the present Bill; but, so far as I am aware, Ireland at present has no regulations of similar stringency. Therefore it is quite possible that milk might be brought from Ireland which would be inferior in cleanliness to milk brought into this country from Scotland. I am aware that the President of the Local Government Board expressed the opinion that the Board have at present ample power under other Acts of dealing with this question. Therefore I should be content to leave this clause as it stands, relying on the assurance of the President of the Local Government Board that lie will give, under the power he has under those Acts, protection to the milk consumer in this country against such a contingency.
LORD STRACHIE: I certainly meant to assure the noble Earl that I am advised that the Local Government Board consider that this clause would be applicable to milk coming in from Ireland or from Scotland. It is true, as the noble Earl says, that with regard to Scotland there will be a Bill passed similar to this Bill, and therefore there will be no objection to milk coming into this country from Scotland because they will have similar powers to our own. With regard to Ireland, the opinion of the Local Government Board is that they could deal with milk coming in from Ireland the same as milk coming from abroad; that is to say, that if necessary they could stop it equally as well.
Clause 8 agreed to.
Clause 9 to 13 agreed to.
Clause 14.
Expenses of local authorities.
14. The expenses of local authorities under this Act and the Milk and Dairies Orders shall be defrayed—

(a) in the ease of a county council, out of the county fund, as expenses for general county purposes, or, if an order of the Local Government Board so directs as respects any such expenses as expenses for special county purposes charged on such part of the county as may be provided by the order;

(b) in the case of the common council, out of the general rate;

(c)in the case of the council of a metropolitan borough, as part of the expenses incurred by the council in the execution of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891;

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(d) in the case of the council of a municipal borough or urban or rural district, as part of their general expenses incurred in the execution of the Public Health Acts.

THE EARL OF NORTHBROOK: I should be glad to have an assurance that it is still the intention of the Government that one half of the expenditure of salaries and remuneration of all officers engaged in carrying out the Milk and Dairies Order will be borne by the county council and other local authorities from public funds. An intimation to that effect was made by the President of the Local Government Board on the Second Reading of the Bill in the other House of Parliament, but I should be glad if the noble Lord in charge of the Bill could give us an assurance that that undertaking still holds good.
LORD STRACHIE: I can assure the noble Earl that any pledge given by my right hon. friend in the other House with regard to this question will, of course, be carried out.
Clause 14 agreed to.
Clause 15:
Provisions as to offences.
15.—(1) if any person commits an offence against this Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding in the case of a first offence five pounds and in the case of a second or subsequent offence fifty pounds, and if the offence is a continuing offence to a further tine not exceeding forty shillings for each day during which the offence continues.
(2) Proceedings against a dairyman for failure to comply with an order made under the Second Schedule to this Act requiring the dairyman not to supply milk from a dairy may be taken before a court of summary jurisdiction either in the place where the offence was committed or in the place where the dairy is situated, and shall be taken only by the authority by which the order was made.
(3) Where the occupier of a dairy is charged with an offence against this Act, he shall be entitled upon information duly laid by him to have any other person whom he charges as t he actual offender brought before the court at the time appointed for hearing the charge; and, if after the commission of the offence has been proved, the occupier of the dairy proves to the satisfaction of the court—

(a) that he has used due diligence to enforce the execution of this Act and the Milk and Dairies Orders; and

(b) that the said other person had committed the offence in question without his knowledge, consent or connivance;

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that other person shall be summarily convicted of the offence, and the occupier shall be exempt from any fine, and the person so convicted shall, in the discretion of the court, be also liable to pay any costs incidental to the proceedings.
(4) When it is made to appear to the satisfaction of the authority by or on whose behalf proceedings are about to be taken—

(a) that the actual occupier of the dairy has used all due diligence to enforce the execution of this Act and the Milk and Dairies Orders; and

(b) by what person the offence has been committed; and

(c)that it has been committed without the knowledge, consent, or connivance of the occupier of the dairy and in contravention of his orders;

proceedings shall be taken against the person who is believed to be the actual offender without first proceeding against the occupier of the dairy.
(5) The duty of taking proceedings for enforcing t he provisions of section one of this Act shall rest on the county council or county borough council, without prejudice however to the power of a sanitary authority in a county to take such proceedings, and the duty of taking proceedings for enforcing the provisions of any Milk and Dairies Order shall rest on the local authority prescribed in the order, and the cleric of the local authority or other officer whom the local authority may appoint, shall have power, if so authorised by the local authority, to institute and carry on such proceedings:
Provided that in cases where the Local Government Board direct that the council of a non-county borough shall exercise and perform within the borough the powers and duties of a county council under sections three and four of this Act, the duty of taking proceedings for enforcing the provisions of section one of this Act in such borough shall rest on the council thereof and not on the county council.
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in any Act to the contrary all fines imposed in any proceedings instituted by or on behalf of a local authority in the exercise of their powers and duties under this Act shall be paid to the authority and carried to the credit of the fund out of which the expenses incurred by the authority under this Act are defrayed.
LORD STRACHIE LORD STRACHIE moved to amend the proviso to subsection (5) by omitting the word "direct" and substituting "make an order under Section 3 of this Act directing." The noble Lord said: This is an Amendment which was promised to Mr. Charles Bathurst in another place, to make it quite clear that the provision only applies when an Order is made under Clause 3, subsection (4). Your Lordships are aware that certain boroughs of a certain size have a right to control the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act in their own areas, and the object of this Amendment is to make it quite clear that an Order made under Clause 3, subsection (4) should apply in those particular cases.
Amendment moved—
Page 10, line 25, leave out ("direct") and insert ("make an Order tinder section three of this Act directing").—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Clause 15, as amended, agreed to.
Remaining clauses agreed to.
First Schedule agreed to.
Second Schedule:
Procedure for stopping Supply of Milk under Section three.
(1) The medical officer of health of the county or county borough in which the cows from which the milk is obtained are kept shall report the matter to the council of such county or county borough (hereinafter referred to as the responsible authority).
(2) His report shall be accompanied by the veterinary or bacteriological reports which have been furnished to him.
(3) On the receipt of the report or a copy of the report from the medical officer of health the responsible authority may serve on the dairyman notice to appear before them, or furnish an explanation in writing, within such time not less than forty-eight hours from the time of the service of the notice on him as may he specified in the notice, to show cause why such order as is hereinafter mentioned should not be made.
(4) The notice shall be accompanied by a copy of the reports made in respect of the dairy.
(5) The responsible authority if, in their opinion, the dairyman has failed to show cause why an order should not be made, may make an order prohibiting him, either absolutely or unless such conditions as may be prescribed in the order are complied with, from supplying for human consumption, or using or supplying for use in the manufacture of products for human consumption, any milk from the dairy or from any particular cow or cows therein until the order has been withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule.
(6) The order shall specify the grounds on which it is made.
(7) On the making of such an order a copy of the order shall forthwith he served on the dairyman, and notice of the facts shall also be served on the Local Government Board and the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.
(8) Where no order is made, the responsible authority shall allow the dairyman any reasonable expenses incurred by hint in showing cause why the order should not be made.
(9) An order prohibiting the supply or use of milk made under this Schedule shall forthwith be withdrawn, and notice of withdrawal served on the dairyman as soon as may be after the responsible authority or their medical officer of health is satisfied that the milk supplied from the dairy is not likely to cause disease.
(10) The medical officer of health shall have power to withdraw an order if so authorised by the responsible authority.
(11) If a dairyman is aggrieved by the making or continuance of an order prohibiting the supply or use of milk, he may by complaint under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction.
(12) A court of summary jurisdiction on such appeal may confirm, vary, or withdraw the order and may direct to and by whom the costs of the appeal are to be paid.
(13) Pending the determination of the appeal, an order shall remain in force unless previously withdrawn.
(14) If an order prohibiting the supply or use of milk is made against a dairyman he shall unless the order has been made in consequence of his own default or neglect be entitled to recover from the responsible authority full compensation for any damage or loss which he may have sustained by reason of the making of the order.
(15) In the case of an appeal under this schedule being allowed, the court to which the appeal is made shall determine and state whether the order, the subject of appeal, has been made without due cause or the withdrawal has been unreasonably neglected or refused, and whether the dairyman has been in default.
(16) Any dispute as to the fact of damage or loss or as to the amount of compensation shall be settled by arbitration in the same manner as provided by the Public Health Act, 1875, and any sum awarded as compensation shall be recoverable as a civil debt.
(17) if the compensation claimed does not exceed twenty pounds it may at the option of either party instead of being settled as hereinbefore provided be settled by and recoverable before a court of summary jurisdiction.
LORD STRACHIE: This Amendment to add words at the end of subsection (14) is to carry out an assurance given by my right hon. friend in the House of Commons to protect a dairyman where there was unreasonable refusal by the local authority to withdraw an order made against him. That is to say, if the refusal was unreasonable then there should be compensation awarded to the dairyman affected thereby. This, like a previous Amendment that I moved earlier in the evening, is for the protection of the farmer and producer, and hope your Lordships will agree to it.
Amendment moved—
Page 15, line 34, after ("order") insert ("The dairyman shall also be entitled to full compensation for any damage or loss which he may sustain in consequence of the responsible authority unreasonably neglecting or refusing to withdraw an order made against him").—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
LORD STRACHIE: My Lords, my Amendment to subsection (15) provides that no compensation shall be payable
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if the Court is of opinion that the order was made in consequence of the default or neglect of the dairyman. These words are necessary, as compensation clearly ought not to be paid to a man who, owing to his own default or neglect, causes the stoppage in the supply of his milk.
Amendment moved—
Page 15, line 37, after "appeal" insert ("was made in consequence of the default or neglect of the dairyman").—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
LORD STRACHIE: The words which I now move to insert are consequential.
Amendment moved—
Page 15, lines 37 and 38, leave out ("has been made without due cause").—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
LORD STRACHIE: The next Amendment is also consequential.
Amendment moved—
Page 15, line 39, leave out ("and whether the dairyman has been in default").—(Lord Strachie)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Second Schedule, as amended, agreed to.
Third Schedule:
Amendment of Sale of Food and Drugs Acts.
(1) Where, under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875 to 1907, a sample of milk is procured from a purveyor of milk, he shall, on being required to do so by the person by whom or on whose behalf the sample was taken, state the name and address of the seller or consignor from whom he received the milk.
(2) The local authority in whose district the sample was taken may take or cause to be taken one or more samples of milk in course of transit, or delivery from such seller or consignor.
Within forty-eight hours after the sample of milk was procured from the purveyor he may serve on the local authority a notice stating the name and address of the seller from whom he received the milk and the time and place of delivery to the purveyor by the seller or consignor of milk from a corresponding milking anti requesting them to take immediate steps to procure as soon as practicable a sample of milk in the course of transit or delivery from the seller or consignor to the purveyor, unless a sample has been so taken since the sample was procured from the purveyor, or within twenty-four hours prior to the sample being procured from tin purveyor, and where a purveyor has not served

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such notice as aforesaid, he shall not be entitled to plead a warranty as a defence in any such proceedings:
Provided that the purveyor shall not have any such right to require that such a sample shall be taken in cases where the milk from which the sample procured from the purveyor was taken was a mixture of milk obtained by the purveyor from more than one seller or consignor.
If a purveyor has served on the local authority such a notice as aforesaid, and the local authority have not procured a sample of milk from the seller or consignor in accordance with the foregoing provisions, no proceedings under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875 to 1907, shall be taken against the purveyor in respect of the sample of milk procured from him.
(3) Any sample of milk so taken in the course of transit or delivery shall be submitted for analysis to the analyst to whom the sample procured from the purveyor is or was submitted
(4) If proceedings are taken against the purveyor of milk, a copy of the certificate of the result of the analysis of every sample so taken in the course of transit or delivery shall be furnished to the purveyor, and every such certificate shall, subject to the provisions of section twenty-one of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, be sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein, and shall be admissible as evidence on any question whether the milk sold by the purveyor was sold in the same state as he purchased it,
(5) The local authority of the district in which the first-mentioned sample was taken may, instead of, or in addition to taking proceedings against the purveyor of milk, take proceedings against the seller or consignor.
(6) If a sample of milk of cows in any dairy is taken in course of transit or delivery from that dairy, the owner of the cows may, within forty-eight hours after the sample of milk was procured, serve on the local authority a notice requesting them to take immediate steps to procure as soon as practicable a sample of milk from a corresponding milking of the cows, and the foregoing provisions shall apply accordingly:
Provided that the person taking the sample shall be empowered to take any such steps at the dairy as may be necessary to satisfy him that the sample is a fair sample of the milk of the cows when properly and fully milked.
LORD STRACHIE LORD STRACHIE moved to delete "forty-eight" at the beginning of subsection (2) and to insert "sixty" The noble Lord said: This Amendment is moved at the request of the traders, who considered that forty-eight hours might not be sufficient in which to serve notice on the local authority. Therefore it was thought desirable to increase it from forty-eight hours to sixty.
Amendment moved—
Page 16, line 17, leave out ("forty-eight") and insert ("sixty").—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
LORD STRACHIE: The next is a similar Amendment, only this time it is introduced—in subsection (6)—on behalf of the farmers, who, like the traders, thought forty-eight hours too short a limit in order to serve notice on the local authority.
Amendment moved—
Page 17, line 15, leave out ("forty-eight") and insert ("sixty").—(Lord Strachie.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Third Schedule, as amended, agreed to.
Fourth Schedule agreed to.
Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 3ª, and passed, and returned to the Commons, and to be printed as amended. (No. 222.)

OSBORNE ESTATE BILL.
Amendment reported (according to Order): Bill read 3ª and passed, and returned to the Commons.
PATENTS AND DESIGNS BILL.
Read 3ª (according to Order), and passed.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION BILL.
EARL BEAUCHAMP: My Lords, on behalf of my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor I beg to move the Motion which stands in his name.
Moved, That leave be given for the Report of Amendments (which stands appointed for Monday next) to be advanced to Friday next.—(Earl Beauchamp.)
THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE: I shall be obliged to the noble Earl if he will give us some explanation of the unusual course which he proposes to adopt. The Report stage of the Bill was put down for Monday next, and now a Motion is made to take it to-morrow instead. Of course, people are bound to draw their own conclusions from so remarkable a change in the time-table, and unless I am asking an indiscreet question I should like to have it explained.
EARL BEAUCHAMP: My noble and learned friend wished to have the Report stage taken to-day, and it was only in deference to a wish expressed by a noble and learned Lord below the Gangway (Lord Parmoor) that it was postponed till next week. There is reason to believe that your Lordships' House will not be sitting during next week, and should that prove to be the case it is very desirable that the Bill should be finished now and not remain over for consideration at another period.
On Question, Motion agreed to, and ordered accordingly.

ENGLISH HOLIDAY-MAKERS ON THE CONTINENT.
LORD LYVEDEN: My Lords, I rise to ask His Majesty's Government a Question of which I have given them private notice—namely, whether any financial assistance can be rendered immediately to a large number of comparatively poor English visitors to Switzerland who are unable to obtain money from the banks and unable to obtain accommodation from many of the hotels as they are being closed, and who are therefore in great straits; and whether arrangements can be made with the French Government at an early date for trains from Geneva to a Channel port. I am personally interested in this matter as a director of companies which have several hundreds of clients now in Switzerland. I had a telegram yesterday from one of my co-directors to say that the position was most serious, and he urged me to ask the Government whether they could not possibly send a ship to Genoa. Of course, that could not possibly be done now. Therefore the easier plan would be to make arrangements with the French Government for trains from Geneva to a Channel port as soon as possible. The Free Church Touring Guild of the Polytechnic have many hundreds of their members stranded without any money or means of getting home. The only tickets they have for the homeward journey are by the Eastern railway of France, and it is impossible for those to be used because on that railway from Bale to Mulhausen you have to pass through German territory.
EARL BEAUCHAMP: My Lords, His Majesty's Government are naturally very much concerned, not only with regard to those British subjects who are in Switzer-
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land, but with regard to a large number of British subjects who are in various health resorts all over the Continent, or who were there at the time war broke out. With regard to the action taken by His Majesty's Government to assist British subjects abroad, our first step was to instruct all His Majesty's representatives to give in every case all the advice and assistance which it may be in their power to afford. We had then to decide as to individual cases in which persons have requested that special action should be taken to assist their friends or relatives. These individual cases number some hundreds, and with regard to them we have been reluctantly compelled to decline to make special telegraphic inquiries. To have made special inquiry in every case brought to our knowledge would, as will be readily realised, have been impossible in the circumstances, and to have made inquiry in special cases only would have been an injustice to the general body of applicants. In any case it would have been most difficult to ensure the delivery of telegrams to our Consular representatives, and if they had been delivered our representatives would have been diverted from their duty of helping all British subjects to special action on behalf of those for whom inquiry was made. This did not seem wise in the general interest.
In order to allay anxiety as much as possible, may I say that the non-arrival of postal or telegraphic messages from persons abroad should not be taken as necessarily implying that they are in difficulties, as all means of communication have been seriously interrupted. Probably the wisest course is for such persons, unless they are under duty to return, to stay quietly where they are until, as I hope, arrangements can be made for their safe return. As regards financial assistance, telegraphic instructions were sent on Monday last to His Majesty's Diplomatic representatives in Europe to request the Governments to which they are accredited to allow His Majesty's Missions and Consulates to obtain from the State banks moderate sums, calculated to suffice for the relief of British subjects who are stranded in foreign countries owing to interruption of all forms of communication. Telegraphic messages are also being sent to-day, informing His Majesty's representatives of the reduction of the Bank Rate, of the continuance of payments in gold, and of the security of the financial situation here. I hope that

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within a day or two the majority of British subjects abroad will find little difficulty in cashing cheques, bank notes, circular notes, etc., in the ordinary way.
With regard to the second part of the noble Lord's Question, whether arrangements could be made with the French Government at an early date for trains from Geneva to a Channel port, I think it is fair to point out that though the dislocation of traffic abroad is undoubtedly very serious at the present time, there is no reason to suppose that it will continue to be as had as it is at present as soon as the mobilisation arrangements have been finished. There will naturally not be a resumption of the ordinary traffic. That, I believe, is too much to expect. But there will be something of a return to more normal circumstances. In conditions like these we must hope that those who are fortunate enough to find themselves in neutral or friendly countries may be able to return to this country.

CURRENCY AND BANK NOTES BILL.
Brought from the Commons.
*THE MARQUESS OF CREWE: My Lords, I am now in a position to make a statement to the House upon two distinct but kindred subjects connected with the finances of the country—first, the extension of the Moratorium, which we were entitled under the Postponement of Payments Act passed two days ago to extend by Proclamation; and the further point of this Currency and Bank Notes Bill which has just come up to us from another place, and which I shall ask your Lordships to pass through all its stages. As regards the extension of the Moratorium, the House will easily understand that for one particular class of persons adversely affected by the Moratorium relating to bills of exchange in the first Proclamation some relief becomes necessary. There are obviously persons who, if that Proclamation had not been issued, would have become entitled to funds which would have enabled them to meet other payments which they are equally obliged in their turn to make, and, their debtors being relieved by Proclamation from paying them, they also stand in equal need of relief.
But it is, as a matter of fact, found that we have to go a great deal further
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than that. There is a large number of persons of all ranks who find that the sources from which in ordinary circumstances they would obtain funds to meet their obligations are now dried up, and they are therefore not in a position to pay. It is no easy matter to attempt to discriminate between the different kinds of liabilities, and it has therefore been decided to make this Moratorium general in its scope, but with certain far-reaching and important exceptions which I will explain to the House. First, as to the form of relief. It is this. It gives the right to all persons who come within its scope to delay for a month the payment of liabilities which fall to be paid before the 4th day of September next in respect of a contract made before the 4th day of August; but this right is subject to the necessity of paying interest at the Bank Rate on Friday—to-morrow's Bank Rate—on the debt which remains unpaid for the period for which the payment is delayed. The House will see that it is necessary to oblige this payment of interest in order to prevent persons taking advantage of the Moratorium who have no real need for doing so, and presumably if they can pay they will do so rather than pay interest. The hope is that this period of a month will give debtors whose affairs are so dislocated by these events the chance of looking round and making such arrangements as they best can.
Business is really in quite a sound condition, and therefore it may be hoped that a very large number of people who owe money will be able to make those arrangements. The House will also remember, if this period should not prove to be long enough, that there is a power to extend the Moratorium still further if it should be required. The bankers, as I stated yesterday, desire to carry on their ordinary business in their usual way; but there is one restriction which bankers find it necessary to place upon depositors, if there are such depositors—and, of course, there may be some—who desire to withdraw gold for the mere purpose of locking it up in their private safes, not for the needs of their business, but simply in order to hoard it up, and upon those the Government quite agree some restriction ought to be placed. The Proclamation has no effect on the Proclamation relating to bills of exchange. That stands just as it did. But the Proclamation now says that all

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payments which become due and payable any day before the beginning of the 4th day of September in pursuance of any instrument which was drawn before the 4th day of August shall be deemed to be payable a month later.
Then comes the important point of the exceptions. The Proclamation does not apply to any payment in respect of wages or salaries. It does not apply to any small liability, the limit which we have fixed being £5. The particular matter which we had in mind in respect of the fixing of the sum at £5 was that of small rents which are paid weekly. It would be undesirable and no good to anybody if a man who is in employment and receiving his weekly wages, quite possibly undiminished by the crisis, should be excused for a month from payment of his weekly rent. It would be hardly fair to expect him to put by the money and to be required to pay the month's rent at the end. On that account, and in connection with other small payments of a similar kind due from people of small means, we have fixed a £5 limit. Then no Moratorium is given in respect of rates and taxes, or in respect of maritime freights. It is not given in respect of any debt to any person resident outside the British Isles, unless the debt is incurred by a person, firm, or company, or any kind of institution, which has a branch business in these islands. It also does not apply to dividends on trustee securities. That is an important consideration which the House will no doubt note. It does not apply to the liability of a bank on the issue of notes—those banks which are issuing banks. It does not apply to any payment made by His Majesty's Government, including old-age pensions; or to any payment made by any person or society in respect of the Insurance Act, or any payment under the Workmen's Compensation Act, or any payment in respect of the withdrawal of deposits by a depositor in a savings bank. Those are the exceptions, which, as I said, are fairly wide, and I hope that the House will agree that they are reasonable.
The Proclamation will be issued at once, and I think it cannot be doubted that it will afford a great deal of relief to a large number of persons who have found themselves, through no fault of their own, in some difficulty in meeting their obligations owing to the crisis. The House will
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remember what I said yesterday with regard to the part taken by the banks, that the banks desire and intend that business conducted by cheques which pass through the Clearing House should go on precisely as usual; and I can once more repeat that they have done their best to assist us throughout this crisis. We have been continuing our discussions at the Treasury with representative bankers, including also bankers from Scotland and Ireland, whose particular position has, of course, added no little difficulty to the arrival of a satisfactory solution. I stated yesterday that it was decided to issue a large number of £1 and ten shilling Government bank notes. This will provide fairly small change for the payment of wages and for like purposes; and there is a tremendous demand at this moment for currency of a smaller denomination than five-pound notes which will be met in that way.
The issue of these notes is not, of course, an object in itself, and it does not in itself meet all the present needs of the financial situation. What it does is it enables the banks to do so. The House is well aware that the Bank Act limits the issue of notes to the amount of gold which the Bank holds, plus a certain proportion, a comparatively small amount, in securities. We sweep away for the time being that restriction, and it is fair to note that the Bank of England has always been far more in leading strings under the Bank Act than most of the foreign banks of a similar, though not identical, position in their issue of notes. The Bank of France, I understand, has an infinitely wider power in issuing notes than the Bank of England has unless the Bank Act is suspended. The same applies, I think, to most of the other great Continental countries. The proposition is now that the Bank of England, and also the banks of issue in Scotland and Ireland, which, as noble Lords know, are numerous, should have powers of the same kind as the great banks have on the Continent of Europe, subject to restrictions imposed by letter from the Treasury. That is to say, if the country desires an extended currency that currency can be obtained by application to the Treasury if the Treasury think it safe to grant it.
But I must again remind the House, as I did yesterday, that this extension of power of issue has nothing whatever to do with

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suspension of cash payments. The paper that is issued will be for all purposes equivalent to, and in case of need can be exchanged for, gold at the Bank of England; and that, of course, draws a sharp dividing line between the two steps of suspending the Act and of announcing an infinitely more serious step, the suspension of cash payments. It is hoped, however, and I think it is a most reasonable request to make, that for the ordinary purposes of life people who in an ordinary way would ask for five or ten pounds in gold will for the time being take that money in paper. Nothing is lost by doing so. For a vast number of purposes these notes will be every whit as convenient as sovereigns and half-sovereigns, and we hope to find that the public will take kindly to them; so that all persons of any influence can do the State a service by pointing out the fact that for all purposes these notes are just as good, and that an excessive amount of gold in circulation has not the same strengthening effect on our credit as it has if it is at the Bank of England or obtainable by the Bank of England. Then, any bank notes issued by a bank of issue in Scotland or Ireland become legal tender, and such a bank of issue is only placed under the obligation to pay cash for its notes on demand at the head office of the bank. That provision is no real hardship on anybody, and it will be found to be a great convenience to those banks in Scotland and Ireland which have a great number of small country branches. I think those are all the points that I have to mention in relation to the Currency Bill. I move that the Bill be read a first time.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 1ª.— (The Marquess of Crewe.)
VISCOUNT ST. ALDWYN: My Lords, I have no desire to detain your Lordships with any detailed comment, and certainly not with any detailed criticism, on this Bill. It is a very serious matter, I am sure, in the minds of the Government and in the minds of all those who consider the high financial position which this country has occupied in the world, that a Bill should be necessary to enact a Moratorium in Great Britain and to issue a large amount of paper currency through the suspension of the Bank Charter Act. But having myself had the honour, as chairman of a committee of the leading bankers of the country, to be in com-
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munication—I might say constant communication—with His Majesty's Government during the past five days and having entered fully into all the details of this matter, there is only one thing to be said, and that is that such a measure is absolutely necessary at the present moment. We hope that the necessity for it may not long endure. We believe that the good sense and cool heads of the British public will enable them to face the position in a manner which will make it easy for the banks, for the Government, and for every one connected with the finance of this country to carry this country safely through; and I am quite sure that everybody concerned, whether they be bankers or whether they be traders or members of the ordinary public, will do their very best in the crisis which is upon us, on behalf of the country which we all desire to support at this moment of trouble.
On Question, Bill read 1ª, and to be printed.
Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 2ª: Committee negatived: Bill read 3ª and passed. (No. 234.)

ANGLO-PERSIAN OIL COMPANY (ACQUISITION OF CAPITAL) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Strachie). (No. 223.)
COUNTY TOWN AND PARISH COUNCILS (QUALIFICATION) (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Emmott). (No. 224.)
DISEASES OF ANIMALS (IRELAND) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Ashby St. Ledgers). (No. 225.)
ENTAILS (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Emmott). (No. 226.)
FEUDAL CASUALTIES (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Emmott). (No. 227.)
EAST AFRICAN PROTECTORATES (LOANS) BILL.
Read 1ª to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Strachie). (No. 228.)
INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION (IRELAND) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Ashby St. Ledgers). (No. 229.)
ISLE OF MAN (CUSTOMS) BILL.
Read 1ª: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended): Bill read 2ª (The Lord Strachie): Committee negatived: Bill read 3ª, and passed.
MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Granard (E. Granard)). (No. 230.)
MERCHANT SHIPPING (CONVENTION) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Granard (E. Granard)). (No. 231).
MILK AND DAIRIES (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Lord Emmott). (No. 232.)
METROPOLITAN POLICE (EMPLOYMENT IN SCOTLAND) (No. 2) BILL.
Read 1ª; to be printed; and to be read 2ª To-morrow (The Viscount Allendale). (No. 233.)
REAL PROPERTY AND CONVEYANCING BILL. [H.L.]
Memorandum respecting: Laid before the House (pursuant to Order of this day), and to be printed. (No. 235.)

ELECTORAL DISABILITIES (NAVAL AND MILITARY SERVICE) RENEWAL BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1ª, and to be printed: Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 2ª (The Lord President (E. Beauchamp)): Committee negatived: Bill read 3ª, and passed. (No. 236.)
House adjourned during pleasure.
House resumed.

ROYAL COMMISSION.
The following Bill received the Royal Assent—
Currency and Bank Notes.
House adjourned at a quarter before Eight o'clock, till To-morrow, a quarter past Four o'clock.