§ Mr. Christiesaid, he believed he was at liberty to state, that the Amendment he was about to propose to the Order relative to the Admission of Strangers, was sanctioned by the Speaker. When he moved a similar Amendment last Session, his proposed alteration was resisted by the right hon. Chancellor of the Exchequer, because from its wording it had reference to other parts of the House than the body of the House. His present Amendment, however, had been drawn up in strict accordance with the views of the hon. Gentleman opposite, and it fully met with the concurrence, as he had previously stated, of the Speaker. Under these circumstances it would be unnecessary for him to trouble the House, and he would simply move the following:—
That the Sergeant-at-Arms attending this House do, from time to time, take into his custody any Stranger whom he may see, or who may be reported to him to be, in any part of the House or Gallery appropriated to the Members of this House, and also any Stranger who, having been admitted into any other part of the House or Gallery, shall misconduct himself, or shall not withdraw when Strangers are directed to withdraw, while the House or any Committee of the whole House is sitting, and that no person so taken into custody be discharged out of custody without the Special 138 Order of the House. That no Member of this House do presume to bring any Stranger into any part of the House or Gallery appropriated to the Members of this House while the House or a Committee of the whole House is sitting. That the above Resolutions be Standing Orders.
§ Sir R. H. Ingliswished to put a question to the Speaker, bearing upon the exclusion of strangers. Hitherto it had only been necessary for an hon. Member to observe that strangers were present, and the Speaker immediately requested their withdrawal, without the question being put, as in other instances, to the Vote of the House. Now he wished to be informed whether, looking at the construction of one of the Sessional Orders, it was not necessary that the question should be decided by a majority, and not absolutely by an individual Member. Ought not a debate and a division to take place on the question?
§ Mr. Speakersaid, that when the hon. and learned Gentleman consulted him about the Amendment, he told him there could be no objection to it, as it made the Resolution more in conformity with the practice of the House. With respect to the question of the hon. Baronet, the right which was referred to, and possessed by individual Members, of having the Gallery cleared upon mentioning that strangers were present, did not depend upon the Sessional Orders. It was an inherent right arising out of the ancient usage and practice of the House, and analogous to the right also enjoyed by Members of calling the attention of the Chair to the absence of forty Members, upon which the Speaker is required to see whether that number of Members are present, and if such is not the case, to adjourn the House.
§ Resolution as amended agreed to.