THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES (THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE)My Lords, I move the somewhat lengthy Motion that appears on the Paper in my name. This is the usual Motion before a Dissolution. It is not word for word as your Lordships passed it four years ago. There are two points which are varied in wording; but I think I can certify to your Lordships that the constitutional principle is maintained as it always has been. Unless, therefore, any of your Lordships desire any further explanation I will move that this Motion be agreed to.
§ Moved to resolve, That the promoters of every Private 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 introduce the same 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 noon on the last sitting day of the present Session; and provided that all fees due by them thereon, up to that period, be paid;
490§ 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 every such Bill which has originated in this House 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 for business other than judicial business, with a declaration annexed thereto, signed in the case of a Private 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and where any sum of money has been deposited, as required by Standing Order No. 57, that such deposit has not been withdrawn, together with a certificate of that fact, from the proper officer of the Court in which such money was deposited;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 in case any such Bill brought from the House of Commons in the present Session, upon which the proceedings shall have been suspended in this House, shall be brought from the House of Commons in the next Session of Parliament, the Agent for such Bill, or an officer of the Department, as the case may be, shall deposit in the Private Bill Office after the Bill shall have passed the House of Commons and prior to the First Reading thereof in this House, a declaration 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, that such deposit has not been withdrawn, together with a certificate of that fact from the proper officer;
§ 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 be charged in regard to such stages;
§ That the Standing Orders by which the proceedings on Bills are regulated shall not apply to any Private or Provisional Order Confirmation Bill which shall have originated in this House or been brought 491 up from the House of Commons in the present Session, in regard to any of the stages through which the same shall have passed;
§ That every certificate from the Examiners of Standing Orders for Private Bills given in respect of any Private or Provisional Order Confirmation Bill originating in the House of Commons, upon which the proceedings shall have been suspended in that House in the present Session, shall be deemed to have been given in respect of such Bill, if the same shall be brought from the House of Commons in the next Session of Parliament, and any notices published and served, and any deposits made in respect of such Bill, in respect of the present Session shall be held to have been published, served and made respectively for the Bill so brought from the House of Commons in the next Session of Parliament;
§ 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 for business other than judicial business in the next Session.—(The Earl of Donoughmore.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to, and ordered accordingly: And Message sent to the Commons to acquaint them therewith.