In briefly moving the Second Reading of this Bill, I desire to explain that its object is to amend Sections 1, 62 and 65 of the Friendly Societies Act, 1896. The Measure embodies an agreed scheme dating from the latter part of last year. Under the old legislation provision was made for the appointment of a Chief Registrar who must be a barrister of not less than 12 years' standing, and it was also arranged to appoint Assistant Registrars in England one of whom at least must be either a barrister or solicitor of seven years' standing, one Assistant Registrar in Scotland and one in Ireland. The object of the first Amending Clause of this Bill is to provide that anyone who has held the office of Assistant Registrar for five years shall be eligible for appointment to the post of Chief Registrar, it being considered, even though a person has not been 12 years a member of the Bar, if he has carried out the duties of Assistant Registrar efficiently he should be eligible and I do not think there will be any objection to that provision. The first Amendment which the Bill proposes is the removal of that disability, which I am sure will commend itself to the unanimous support of the House.

The second Amendment which this Bill proposes relates to Section 62 of the Act of 1896. Hon. Members will recall that the Act of 1896 provides for the payment of certain funeral allowances on the deaths of children, that is to say, £6 up to five years of age, and £10 up to 10 years of age. When the Industrial Assurance Act of last year was passing through Committee, the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Central Bristol (Sir T. Inskip) incorporated that part of the Act of 1896 in the Measure, and it was at that time proposed by hon. Members now on this side of the House, and by hon. Members in other parts of the House as well, to substitute a rather better scale of £6 in the case of a death of a child under three, £10 in the case of the death of a child under six, and £15 in the case of the death of a child up to 10 years of age—in short, to bring the rate of these allowances up to a point more in keeping with the increased charges made for funeral expenses at the present time. That Amendment was accepted by the right hon. and learned Gentleman, and incorporated in the Industrial Assurance Act, which, however, was limited in its scope to the industrial assurance companies. The right hon. Gentleman pointed out at the time that it would be necessary, in order to put the friendly societies, the trade unions and the collecting societies on the same footing as the industrial assurance companies, to introduce a short Bill, which would be, no doubt, an agreed Measure, and put all branches of the enterprise on terms of equality.

The object of the present Bill is to give effect to that promise. There is a certain urgency in this matter, in that the Industrial Assurance Act came into operation at the beginning of the year and the industrial assurance companies have enjoyed this privilege for several months, while the trade unions, friendly societies and collecting societies have so far been deprived of it. The other portions of the Bill are consequential on those I have just described. Provision is made, in the case of the registrar giving a certificate, for the alteration of the amounts on the proposed new basis. There is no other element in the Bill which calls for description. I think there is no division of opinion upon it, and I have every confidence the House will give it a Second Reading unanimously.