§ VISCOUNT HALDANEMy Lords, can the noble Marquess the Leader of the House give us any further information as to the course of business?
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY)My Lords, I am much obliged to the noble and learned Viscount. I was not able, speaking without Notice, on Thursday to give him a full account, but I have taken care to be amply provided for this afternoon. I am only responsible for the Bills standing in the name of the Government and of those Bills there are in your Lordships' House now awaiting Second Reading the Wireless Telegraphy (Explanation) Bill, the Widows. Orphans and Old Age Contributory Pensions Bill, the Sandwich Port and Haven Bill and the Dangerous Drugs Bill. In Committee there are the Public Works Loans Bill and the Summer Time Bill. Awaiting Report stage are the Greenwich Hospital (Disused Burial Ground) Bill, the Roads Improvement Bill and the Allotments Bill. Awaiting Third Reading are the Married Women's (Torts) Bill and the Teachers (Superannuation) Bill, and awaiting the stage of considering Commons Amendments are the Summary Jurisdiction (Separation and Maintenance) Bill and the Therapeutic Substances Bill.
These Bills are already in your Lordships' House, and all of them we hope to get before the adjournment. Most of them are uncontentious, though one or two may be to some extent contentious. Besides that there are certain Bills coming up to us from another place. There are the Education (Scotland) 404 (Superannuation) Bill, which, I am informed, has just arrived, the Air Ministry (Cattewater Seaplane Station) Bill, which also has just arrived, and the Isle of Mai (Customs) Bill, which is an annual Bill and an ordinary routine Bill, the Diseases of Animals Bill, which is a Money Bill, the Unemployment Insurance Bill, which is a very important measure, and the Telegraph (Money) Bill. Except with regard to those Bills which are now in your Lordships' House awaiting the First Reading, I am not sure that it would serve any useful purpose to indicate when the stages of these Bills should be taken, because they are not yet in our own power. We propose, of course, to take the First Reading of those two other Bills immediately. We hope that the Bills that I have mentioned, both those which are already in your Lordships' House and those which are to come to us from the Commons, can all be agreed to before the Recess. This may seem a great deal, but most of these Bills are either Money Bills or routine Bills, though there, are, of course, one or two Bills which do not belong to those categories. Besides the Bills that I have mentioned, there is also one important Bill which is not in the hands of the Government, but in which we are very much interested—the Public Health Bill, which I hope will be obtainable before the summer sittings are concluded.
§ VISCOUNT HALDANEMy Lords, it is quite true that a number of these Bills are short Bills and should not take very much time, but the list includes other Bills which are of a very serious nature. The Pensions Bill must be the subject of some discussion, as must also the Unemployment Insurance Bill.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYCertainly.
§ VISCOUNT HALDANEI will not say that there are not others in the list which will require some attention. It is a sanguine estimate that we can get them through comfortably by the end of next week. When docs the noble Marquess propose to adjourn? Perhaps he cannot say until he sees how he gets on with his business, but is that programme intended for this week and next week?
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYI can only tell the noble and learned Viscount what our hope is. We hope that Parliament will adjourn on August 8.
§ VISCOUNT HALDANESo I thought. Very well; we will see what can be done. We must sit on Bank Holiday?
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYOh, yes. I wish to make a further statement to your Lordships in order to help us through our business. Now that the Judicial Sittings of the House are coming to an end—I think they come to an end to-morrow——
§ VISCOUNT HALDANEThat is the House of Lords. But there is the Privy Council also upon which the Lord Chancellor sits.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYBut it is usual when the Judicial Sittings of the House of Lords itself are over, and when therefore the Woolsack is available, to sit it three o'clock instead of at a quarter past four.
§ VISCOUNT HALDANEYes, I know, but there is a body called the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to which nobody pays any attention and which is the supreme tribunal of the Empire. I have been sitting there every day for two months and the Lord Chancellor has been sitting there for a long time of late. We have very heavy work indeed to do, but I hope it will be finished on Thursday. I should not like to be certain, however, and the Lord Chancellor is urgently required there.
§ THIS MARQUESS OF SALISBURYPerhaps the noble and learned Viscount will allow me to confer with him about that?
§ VISCOUNT HALDANECertainly.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYI think it will probably be necessary to have a Friday sitting this week. There is one other matter on which I should like to consult your Lordships sitting in all parts of the House. There is a Scottish Bill which is going to tie read a first time immediately, the Scotland (Education) (Superannuation) Bill It follows exactly the lines of the English Bill and has been through the House of Commons without any kind of controversy, which is very unusual with a Scottish Bill.
§ VISCOUNT HALDANEI do not think that it will take long, but do not assume that it is the same thing as the English Bill; it is not.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYI gather from my noble friend Lord Balfour of Burleigh that it is important that this Bill should be through by Friday.
§ VISCOUNT HALDANEThat may well be.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYI am much obliged to the noble and learned Viscount, and I hope that other noble Lords will take the same kindly view. In that case we propose to read it a first time now and to take the other stages in succession on each following day, but, of course, if there were any objection in any part of your Lordships' House that procedure would have to be reconsidered.
§ EARL BEAUCHAMPMy Lords, I do not think that I can object to that course, but I should like to point out to the noble Marquess that this is the third occasion on which the Scottish Office has treated your Lordships' House in a somewhat disrespectful manner.
LORD BALFOUR OF BURLEIGHMy Lords, in reply to the remarks of the noble Earl I should like to say that on the last occasion on which he called the Scottish Office to task it was found that the Amendment which he thought should have been circulated had, in fact, been circulated, and I think it was agreed afterwards that this matter was in order. I venture to point that out only because it possibly reduces our sins to two instead of three.