§ Order of the Day for receiving the Report of Amendments read.
§ Moved, That the Report be now received.—(viscount Gage.)
§ LORD STRACHIEMy Lords, on the question that the Report be now received I should like to ask for some assurance from the noble Viscount in charge of the Bill. It will be within the recollection of your Lordships that when the Bill was in Committee there were great difficulties confronting both the noble Viscount and myself in the matter of Amendments, owing to the fact that the Bill was so rushed that there was practically no time to put down Amendments. The most important question I raised then was as to Orders being confirmed by Parliament. Your Lordships know that these Orders are merely made by the Minister and there is no control. I suggested that there should be control by Parliament. The noble Viscount said that was not possible, because this was an emergency measure and the Orders made must come into operation at once. I ventured to go further and suggested that if that could not be done the Orders might lie on the Table of both Houses. That is a very common procedure now, and I know that the Ministry of Health do not object to that form. The noble Viscount said that also was not possible and asked me to see him and confer with him.
I have had the opportunity of doing that, and what I am anxious to get now is some assurance that there is no intention on the part of the Government at December 31, 1935, to place this Act in the Expiring Laws Continuance Bill, because of course there is a real danger of their doing that. So many temporary Bills I have known brought forward which have become Acts and have then been included in the Expiring Laws Continuance Bill and we have no further power over them. I am quite aware of the statement made by the Minister of Health in another place when he said in Standing Committee:
This is a purely temporary measure to last only long enough to enable us to take emergency measures in respect of the actual drought.350 He went on to say:There is no intention to use the machinery of the Bill as a permanent addition to the Statute Book. It would be quite improper as a permanent addition to the Statute Book.No doubt that is very satisfactory as far as it goes, but there must have been some doubt in the mind of one distinguished member of the House of Commons; I refer to Sir Francis Fremantle, who said on Third Reading that he had very grave doubts whether he ought to support the Third Reading.Sir Francis said:
Because this is creating such a precedent, I have some qualms in giving to the Minister the duty and responsibility of making these Orders without Parliament having an opportunity of reviewing them. I hope that the matter may be taken into consideration in another place "—and then he went on to say—because I feel uneasy in regard to it, but in every other respect I congratulate the Government on what seems to be very useful and prompt action.I think that is the general feeling of the House—that on general principles there is no objection to it; but on the other hand I think we ought to have a little further assurance than was given by the Minister. Certainly Sir Francis Fremantle evidently thought so, because he referred to it again. Notwithstanding what the Minister said, I am anxious to get an expression from the noble Viscount in charge of the Bill that there is not the slightest intention on the part of the Government to put this Bill, when it has become an Act, after December 31, 1935, into the Expiring Laws Continuance Bill, and that so far as his Party arc concerned they have no wish to have the Bill except as merely an Emergency Bill with no idea of carrying it on in the future.
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, I think that the only point which now remains is the last point mentioned by the noble Lord, and in connection with that I can make this statement: while we cannot, of course, give an assurance that in no circumstances will the Bill be included in the Expiring Laws Continuance Act, if, for instance, at the end of next year there is again a drought as severe as that which the country has just experienced, we can give the noble Lord a definite assurance that there is no intention of making the Bill a permanent measure, either by including it in the Expiring Laws Continuance Act or in any other way.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to: Amendments reported accordingly.
§ Clause 1 [Power to make Orders, and duration, variatian and revocation of orders]:
352
§
Amendment moved—
Page 3, line 3, after ("water") insert ("into a canal or").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ House adjourned at a quarter before seven o'clock.