HL Deb 08 April 1919 vol 34 cc219-20

Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.

VISCOUNT PEEL

My Lords, I do not know whether your Lordships would like me to go through the clauses of the Bill in detail at this hour, or would prefer that I should deal with the matter at a later stage. At present I will content myself with merely moving that the Bill be read a second time.

Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Viscount Peel.)

EARL STANHOPE

My Lords, I only want to raise two small points on this Bill. The first is that the Bill is brought in at a very late period. As the noble Viscount knows, and as your Lordships know, this Bill must come into operation before the end of the present month, and as I understand that the House is likely to rise early next week we shall have very little opportunity of considering the rather important changes in the Army Act which are proposed to be introduced. I suggest that this is a Bill which might be first introduced in this House and then sent to another place.

The only other question—to which I do not expect an immediate answer—arises on Clauses 7 and 8 of the Bill. Your Lordships will see that it gives powers to examine houses, and so on, with regard to the supply of carriages and animals, and as your Lordships know only too well, your horses were commandeered at the beginning of the war and were given up very willingly. They were commandeered in most cases below their value. The sum of £80 was given for a high-class hunter which, whatever it might be worth for the Army, you could not buy in the market for double the price. If you are going to commandeer, I think that motors and tractors should also be liable to be commandeered. In what I am going to say Artillery officers may not agree with me, but I think that in the future field guns will probably be drawn by tractors of the farming and ploughing type rather than by horses. You will no longer see batteries galloping into action; and I suggest to my noble friend that he should consider whether the word "carriage" in the Bill will really cover the question of motor cars and possibly tractors.

VISCOUNT PEEL

May I just say, upon that, that this clause refers not so much to commandeering as to making a list, classifying and inspecting. I do not know whether the noble Earl wants his motorcar inspected.

EARL STANHOPE

I want it put on the list, as well as horses.

On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.