§ MR. NEWDEGATEsaid, he would beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman the First Lord of the Treasury, When the Papers relating to O'Farrell, which the House had ordered, will be in the hands of Members?
MR. GLADSTONEI rise, Sir, to answer this Question, of which the hon. Gentleman courteously gave me notice, although my right hon. Friend (Mr. Monsell) the representative of the Colonial Department would perhaps have answered it with greater advantage. The substance of my answer will be to refer the hon. Gentleman to a Notice which has been given, and which I believe is already upon the Paper, in the name of my right hon. Friend, for the purpose of rescinding the Motion to which the hon. Member for North Warwickshire refers. The state of the case is this—that some time ago the hon. Member expressed to my right hon. Friend his desire that these Papers should be produced, and the close of the 1469 communications upon the subject was that my right hon. Friend declined on the part of the Government to produce the Papers; but understanding that they were Papers that had already been printed by order of a branch of the Colonial Legislature, he stated that, if the hon. Member chose to move for them, the Government would make no opposition. Since that period we have examined into these Papers, and have become aware of their character in two respects, which I will briefly state to the House. I do not speak of the whole of the Papers, but of the material Paper which the hon. Member has specially in view in his Motion. That Paper consists of a conversation between the convict O'Farrell and certain persons in authority in the Colony, which conversation was taken down by a shorthand-writer—the presence of the shorthand-writer being unknown to the convict. I own I think it is not our practice to obtain confessions or declarations of any kind from convicts, and report them under such circumstances, and I very greatly doubt the policy of unnecessarily associating ourselves with that proceeding. Of course, it is not for me to express any opinion upon the proceeding itself. There may have been perfectly justifiable cause for it; into that I do not enter, but I think there is no necessity whatever for our linking ourselves with it. Over and above that, undoubtedly, I find that the Papers were printed by order of a branch of the Colonial Legislature; but it appears that the printing of these Papers was a matter of very serious contention; it was very much contested there; and we do not feel, therefore, that that authority on the ground of mere fact is wholly conclusive. But when we look at the nature of the Papers, I do not hesitate to say that in these Papers is contained matter which it is contrary to our public duty as Ministers to be parties to laying be-fore this House. That is a very decided statement. Our mind is quite made up upon it, and I fully believe that the House of Commons will place so much of discretion in the responsible attention we have given to the subject, that they will not press us under these circumstances for the production of the Papers. We are convinced their publication can be attended with no public good and advantage, and we mean to ask the House 1470 of Commons to test this question by the Motion which my right hon. Friend will submit for the rescinding of the Order which, on a less perfect knowledge of the circumstances, we assented to.
§ MR. NEWDEGATEAS the statement of the right hon. Gentleman may seem to impugn my judgment, I wish to mention that I communicated fully with the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies before I asked him whether the Government would grant these Papers, and he replied—"With the greatest pleasure," and I then moved for them. I wish to ask when the Motion for rescinding the Order will come on, and I may state that I am not prepared when it does come on to shrink from any responsibility which I have incurred.
MR. GLADSTONEIt is difficult to state the precise day, but I will take care that the hon. Gentleman has ample notice.