Lords Sitting of 12 April 1932

Preamble
Reassembling after the Easter Recess, the House met at a quarter past four of the clock, The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.
The Earl Russell—Sat first in Parliament after the death of his brother.

ROAD TRAFFIC BILL. [H.L.]
LORD BUCKMASTER: My Lords, I beg leave to introduce a Bill to amend the Road Traffic Act of 1930 and for purposes connected therewith; and to move that it be read a first time.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 1a.—(Lord Buckmaster.)
On Question, Bill read 1a, and to be printed.

LAW OF PROPERTY (ENTAILED INTERESTS) BILL. [H.L.]
LORD BLANESBURGH: My Lords, I beg leave to introduce a Bill to prevent the conversion of entailed interests into absolute interests and the destruction of interests expectant thereon by the statutory trusts for sale; and to move that it be read a first time.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 1a.—(Lord Blanesburgh.)
On Question, Bill read 1a, and to be printed.

ARMY AND AIR FORCE (ANNUAL) BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; and to be printed.
WHEAT BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; and to be printed.
BURY CORPORATION BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; to be printed; and referred to the Examiners.
YORKS WATERWORKS BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; and referred to the Examiners.
EDINBURGH CORPORATION (SHERIFF COURT HOUSE, &c.) 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 and reported from the Committee.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.
LORD PONSONBY OF SHULBREDE: My Lords, perhaps the noble and learned Viscount the Leader of the House would be good enough to tell us what the business will be this week, and possibly next week as well?
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM): My Lords, so far as this week is concerned, I was proposing—I have made the necessary arrangements to form a House—to ask your Lordships to adjourn during pleasure almost immediately, and then to take the First Reading of the Transitional Payments Prolongation (Unemployed Persons) Bill, which is expected from another place as soon as the House of Commons rises about 11 o'clock to-night. That is a certified Bill, or is likely to be, and it is a Bill which it is necessary to pass into law at once, because otherwise the right to receive these transitional benefits would expire on the 20th of this month, that is, next week. I was proposing, therefore, to ask your Lordships to take the First Reading of that Bill formally to-night and the Second Reading tomorrow. There would be no Committee stage or Report stage presumably because it is a certified Bill. Then it will pass its Third Reading, I hope, on Thursday. I do not think the Bill is one which will give rise to any extended debate in your Lordships' House. I understand that my noble friend Lord Blanesburgh, who gave notice just now of a Bill to amend the law of property, desires to have the Second Reading of that Bill tomorrow. That also is a matter which will not, I think, give rise to any very prolonged discussion.
So far as next week is concerned, there is a Motion by my noble friend Lord Lloyd with regard to relations with Russia, which is down already for Wednesday, April 20, and probably it would be convenient for your Lordships to let that be the only substantial business on that day because the debate may take some little time. What I had proposed to do was to ask your Lordships to take the Second Reading of the Wheat Bill on Tuesday the 19th, and the Second Reading of the Army and Air Force (Annual) Bill on Thursday the 21st. I understand from a suggestion which has only just reached me that perhaps the Opposition
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are not anxious to have the Wheat Bill on the 19th. Of course, I would gladly fall in with anything which meets with the convenience of the House, but I rather think a good many of your Lordships were expecting the Wheat Bill on Tuesday. I do not want not to have an adequate interval between the Second Reading and the Committee stage, and the sooner we can get the Second Reading the better chance there will be of getting the Committee stage, and possibly the other stages, disposed of before Whitsuntide, which is desirable if possible. If the Opposition pressed me very hard I should, of course, do my best perhaps to change about the Army and Air Force (Annual) Bill and the Wheat Bill; but unless the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition presses, I should like to have the Wheat Bill on Tuesday of next week.
LORD PONSONBY OF SHULBREDE: My Lords, I am very much obliged to the noble and learned Viscount who leads the House for informing us about the business. I do not want to press that the Wheat Bill should be taken on the Thursday. I thought it might be for the general convenience of the House to have it then as it is probable that the debate would be of some importance, and, Tuesday being the day on which the Budget is introduced in another place, I thought a good many of your Lordships might possibly be absent. If it is in any way inconvenient I do not want to press the matter.
VISCOUNT HAILSHAM: My Lords, I am very much obliged to the noble Lord for his very reasonable suggestion. As far as I have been able to ascertain through the usual channels, I think it would be for the convenience of your Lordships' House to get the Second Reading on Tuesday if we could. After all, the Budget will be available to everybody very soon after it is announced, and I am not sure that the pleasure of listening to it will be sufficient to detract from the advantages of attending the debate here. I have just been told that my noble friend Lord Blanesburgh has changed the date for his Law of Property (Entailed Interests) Bill from to-morrow to the 21st of this month. I was misinformed; I thought that he proposed to take it to-morrow. In that event we might possibly take a little Bill called

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the Solicitors Bill, which I think is a Consolidation Bill and therefore has to get its Second Reading and, of course, is dealt with by the Consolidation Joint Committee. That might possibly have its Second Reading to-morrow instead of the noble Lord's Law of Property Bill.

EDINBURGH CORPORATION ORDER CONFIRMATION BILL. [H.L.]
Read 3a (according to Order).
The Schedule:
THE EARL OF LUCAN: My Lords, I understand there are some Amendments to this Bill which I shall have to move on behalf of my noble friend Lord Strathcona. The first Amendment is a formal one. It is on page 8, line 28, after "except" to insert "Section 43 (Future purchase of undertaking by local authority)." This Order authorises the transfer to the Corporation of a comparatively short length of tramway in the Burgh of Musselburgh and it was required to include in the Order a clause giving power to purchase after a period of years. The length of the tramway is very short in Musselburgh, and it is probable that it would not be practicable to run it as a separate undertaking. Therefore the Burgh of Musselburgh and the Corporation of Edinburgh have agreed that this clause should be excepted. The Secretary of State thinks that is perfectly reasonable. I beg to move.
Amendment moved—
Page 8, line 28, after ("except") insert ("Section 43 (Future purchase of under-
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taking by local authority) and").—(The Earl of Lucan.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
THE EARL OF LUCAN: My Lords, the next Amendment is practically a drafting Amendment to leave out the figure (1), and the following Amendment is linked up with it, to insert after "rights" the figure (1). I beg to move.
Amendment moved—
Page 45, line 13, leave out ("(1)").—(The Earl of Lucan.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Amendments moved—
Page 45, line 16 after ("rights") insert ("(1)").
Page 45, line 36 after ("Act") insert ("and").—(The Earl of Lucan.)
On Question, Amendments agreed to.
Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.
House adjourned during pleasure.
House resumed.

TRANSITIONAL PAYMENTS PRO- LONGATION (UNEMPLOYED PER- SONS) BILL.
Brought from the Commons endorsed with the Certificate from the Speaker that the Bill is a Money Bill within the meaning of the Parliament Act, 1911; read 1a; and to be printed.
House adjourned at eleven o'clock.