§ Read 3a(according to Order):
§ Moved, That the Amendment proposed by the Select Committee be made.—The (The Earl, of Onslow.)
THE CHAIRMAN or COMMITTEES (THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE)My Lords, think I ought to explain to your Lordships the circumstances in which my noble friend makes this Motion, and should draw attention to the fact that we have not thought it necessary that the. Amendment, in accordance with the invariable rule, should be printed. This is a Provisional Order Bill, referred to an opposed Select Committee upstairs. That Select Committee made an Amendment which is an agreed Amendment between the promoters and the opponents of the Bill. The result of the Amendment is that the opposition to the Bill disappears. The normal course would have been, when the Bill was taken in Committee yesterday, to have put the Motion that the Amendment made in the Select Committee be agreed to. I was not aware of the position, and I did not put the Motion. We knew the facts a few minutes afterwards, and the question arose of what ought to be done. Obviously, the most convenient course is that the Amendment should be made by the full House in Committee. It is a long clause, and in view of the fact that it is an agreed clause I thought it was unnecessary to go to the expense of printing it. For that reason I suggest, to 638 your Lordships that in the very exceptional circumstances you would not be unwilling to allow the Bill to go forward now and the Amendment to be made it this stage.
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY)My Lords, I think your Lordships should be mane fully aware of what has been done. The universal rule of the House is that no Amendment should be made upon the Third Reading of any Bill, unless Notice is given. That is the rule, and it is a rule which it is in the interests of the House, and of wider interest still, to see enforced because the Third Reading affords the last opportunity which the House has of considering any Bill, and therefore if a mistake is made there is no means of remedying it. Very often Bills do not reach this House until they have been through another place, and it is therefore the last stage, beyond which there is no possibility of repentance. From my own experience in this House, I have seen occasions when the House has been as it were, caught happing, the rule has not been en forced, and a great mistake has been made.
My noble friend the Lord Chairman asks us on the present occasion to waive this rule, and he does it in very special circumstances. What I thought of saying to your Lordships was this—that the circumstances are very special, because it is not a public but a private Bill, and it was only by inadvertence that this Amendment was not confirmed in the House yesterday. There is not the least likelihood of any difficulty arising out of the matter, because it is an agreed Amendment and, further, it would be rather expensive to have the Amendment printed. Therefore, if your Lordships make this exception, it will certainly be a very rare exception. In the absence of Lord Curzon, I am in a position of great responsibility, and I should not like to allow the matter to go through without telling your Lordships exactly what has been done. If you are willing to waive any objection, well and good, but if any objection is taken then I would suggest that we postpone the Bill till to-morrow, so that proper novice can be given.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to, and Amendment made accordingly
§ Bill passed, and sent, to the Commons.