THE GROUND GAME ACT 205 



That this was not the intention of the Legislature 

 may be seen from the report of the debates during the 

 progress of the Bill through Committee. The clause 

 relating to spring traps originally stood thus : ' Neither 

 such occupier nor any person authorised by him shall 

 employ spring traps above ground for the purpose of 

 killing ground game.' Had the Bill been passed in 

 that form the limitation in the use of spring traps 

 would, of course, not have applied to landlords ; 

 but Mr. Gregory moved an amendment altering the 

 clause to ' no person having a right of killing ground 

 game under this Act or otherwise ; ' on which the 

 Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt, observed that, 

 ' Seeing that the amendment placed the landlord and 

 tenant on the same footings he was willing to accept 

 it.' It passed accordingly ; and what was afterwards 

 Sir William Harcourt's view as to the meaning of the 

 law which he was so instrumental in getting passed, is 

 shown by what he stated in the House of Commons 

 in May, 1883, in reply to Sir A. Gordon, who inquired 

 whether Her Majesty's Government would move 

 Parliament to restore in Scotland the liberty to use 

 spring traps in rabbit runs, of which they have been 

 deprived by the Ground Game Act. Sir William 

 Harcourt said, ' It did not really take away from the 

 tenant farmers anything which as a right they enjoyed 



