Note 148 — Chapter XI

I look back with great pleasure to the part I took, however humble, in connection with this great measure. Though it was the Act of Lord Aberdeen’s Government, its credit is mainly due to Mr. (now Lord) Cardwell, then President of the Board of Trade, to Mr. (now Sir Henry) Thring, by whom it was drawn with great ability and care, and to Mr. T. H. Farrer, then Secretary of the Marine Department, whose clear head, sound judgment, thorough knowledge of maritime law, and unwearied exertions, were of the greatest value to the able minister under whom he acted. Perhaps, in the whole history of Parliament, no Bill at all approaching its dimensions and the multiplicity of subjects with which it dealt, was ever carried through the House of Commons with so much unanimity, and in so short a space of time, as the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854; and, as the manner in which this was done may be useful to the legislators of to-day and of the future, I shall endeavour to state the mode of procedure. Mr. Cardwell, having made himself thoroughly master of the subject by a careful study of the existing mercantile marine laws of our own and other countries in all their details, invited to the Board of Trade the representatives of all the leading seaports in the kingdom, and having furnished them with an outline of his views, wisely sought their aid in the construction of his great measure. He courted discussion in every form, and, in no instance, declined to receive a deputation from shipowners, sailors, and other persons who could furnish him with useful information on the subject. By such means he was able, not, however, without much labour, though it was unseen and unknown, to complete and perfect a most difficult and valuable legislative measure, the whole of the clauses of which he carried through the House of Commons in one day’s sitting between the hours of 12.30 and 5.45! No such legislative feat has ever been performed before or since. Nor was it, indeed, a less perfect measure than various others of one quarter its size, which had occupied the attention of Parliament for as many days as the hours appropriated by the House to its discussion.