HL Deb 27 July 1936 vol 102 cc276-8

LORD MARLEY had given Notice that he would move, That Standing Order No. XXXVIII be considered in order to its being dispensed with, and that the Bill be now read 2a. The noble Lord said: My Lords, I have to apologise for this Motion. It is due entirely to my fault in omitting to put down this Bill for Second Reading within the time limit allowed by Standing Orders. In consequence I must begin by asking permission to consider Standing Order XXXVIII so that it may be dispensed with. Standing Order XXXVIII says: When a Hill brought from the House of Commons shall have remained on the Table of this House for twelve sitting days without any Lord giving notice of the Second Reading thereof, such Bill shall not any longer appear among the Bills in Progress …. I beg therefore to move that Standing Order No. XXXVIII be considered in order to its being dispensed with.

Moved, That Standing Order No. XXXVIII be considered in order to its being dispensed with.—(Lord Marley.)

On Question, Motion agreed to, and ordered accordingly.

LORD MARLEY

My Lords, I am greatly obliged to the House for giving me permission to put this Bill before you in order that it may be read a second time. It is a simple measure which is designed specially for the Scottish people, who are a kindly and unsuspicious nation, neither calculating nor grasping, who need to be helped with regard to weights and measures because they are not experts in judging these matters. They need protection. Therefore the Bill is introduced in order that we may apply to Scotland measures which the more suspicious English have had for a long time, under which bags of coal can be weighed either during the course of transit or at the time of sale and a penalty may be applied in case anyone is found guilty of the pernicious practice of attempting to sell bags of coal which are less heavy than they purport to be.

We had an example in a part of Scotland the other day in which a county inspector of weights and measures was somewhat suspicious of the look of some bags of coal and demanded that they should be weighed. The lorry driver, the salesman, performed Herr Greiser's famous salute to this county inspector and drove off. There was no penalty, and the unfortunate people who bought these bags of coal probably got several pounds less than they paid for. Another ease occurred in which there was an actual finding of short weight; but no penalty is allowed in Scotland for attempting to sell bags of coal at short weight. This little Bill will cure one other matter also, if your Lordships are good enough to allow it to be read a second time. In Scotland they have had, from time immemorial, various other methods of weighing coal. The reason I do not know, but apparently there are certain parts of Scotland where coal is sold in bags weighing about ¾ cwt. instead of 1 cwt. It is therefore perfectly permissible to hawk this coal around in bags filled with ¾ cwt. of coal. The. Scots, some of whom have learned from the English and are very clever, then take these carts, filled with bags only holding ¾ cwt. of coal, into the neighbouring district, where the people imagine they are buying 1 cwt. This, again, is a fault against which there is no remedy, and the Bill is designed to secure that this practice shall not be allowed in the future. I beg to move that the Bill shall be now read a second time.

Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Lord Marley.)

THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL)

My Lords, the House would probably like to have an indication of the views of the Government on this Bill. The Government recognise that this Bill is designed to improve local government administration in Scotland with regard to the sale of coal, and that it is desired by Scottish local authorities. The Government therefore regard it as a useful measure. The Bill has reached its present stage by general consent, and I commend it to the favourable consideration of your Lordships.

On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.

House adjourned at four minutes before six o'clock.