§ Order for Committee read.
§ On Question, "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair,"
§ MR. DODSONrose in his place and said:—Sir, as I do not intend to resume the Chair of the Committee of Ways and Means, I apprehend this is the appropriate time for me formally to communicate to the House my resignation of that office, which I have now had the honour to hold in three successive Parliaments, and for a space of between seven and eight years. At the same time, I hope the House will not think it officious or presumptuous on my part if I ask permission to take this opportunity to convey to the House, in few but sincere terms, my acknowledgment of the support, the forbearance, and indulgence accorded to me on all occasions during the time I have held that position. Practically, the regularity of our proceedings depends, in the main, upon the sense of order entertained by the House itself in its aggregate capacity, upon the 893 self-control of individual Members, upon their readiness to defer to the authority of the Chair, and to place the most favourable construction upon the acts and the words of the person who occupies it. These conditions of order are even more essential in the short, desultory discussions that arise in Committee than in the more formal debates that take place in the House itself; and I feel a deep debt of obligation for the cordial co-operation and the spontaneous support which has been afforded me in my endeavours to give effect to the rules and practice of Committees. I must beg leave to offer my especial thanks to those Members who have assisted me in the discharge of my immediate duties in connection with the Private Business of the House; and who have often, in times of pressure, lightened my task at the cost of their own time and convenience. Nor are my thanks less due to those officers of the House who have so ably and efficiently assisted me in the performance of my functions whether in connection with the Public or Private Business of the House. Sir, in conclusion, I only wish to express—or, rather, I should say I wish I could express—my sense and my appreciation of the generous confidence and the undeviating kindness which have been shown to me by hon. Members on whatever benches they may sit.
MR. GLADSTONESir, I am quite sure the House will feel that the retirement of my hon. Friend the Member for East Sussex from the Chair of Ways and Means, and the speech, brief but significant, with which he has accompanied it, ought not to be allowed to pass without some attempt to express the feeling of the House with regard to the services he has rendered. I do not entertain any difficulty in the endeavour to state, however briefly and crudely, the general sentiment, because I am convinced that it prevails alike in every quarter of the House. The office which has been held by my hon. Friend has been one of constantly growing importance and responsibility. It was a weighty office when the duties of the Chair were confined to occasions of Ways and Means and Supply; but those duties were afterwards extended to the general charge of Bills in Committee. With them have been growing, or rather joined, in the progress of our recent Parliamentary 894 history, an accumulation of important functions in connection with the Private Business of the House; and, lastly, the Chairman of Ways and Means has, by being charged with the functions of Deputy Speaker, been called upon, when the Speaker has necessarily been absent from the Chair, to perform the most arduous and most responsible of all the official duties connected with the proceedings of the House. Sir, I believe we all feel that my hon. Friend has proved himself entirely equal to this weighty and constantly accumulating business—equal to it, whatever its weight might be, by his ability, by his quick discernment, by his firmness, by his indefatigable assiduity; and with respect to the question of impartiality, as between party and party, I no not believe that, upon any single occasion, even in very arduous times, it ever crossed the mind of any hon. Member of this House to suppose that my hon. Friend could be induced to deviate a hair's breath from the line of perfect equity. Therefore, Sir, on my own part, as an individual Member of the House, much interested in the conduct of its proceedings, and, so far as I may venture to assume that duty, I beg to tender my cordial acknowledgments to my hon. Friend for all he has contributed to the efficiency of our proceedings, and to express my conviction that, although the House may exercise its best judgment in the choice of a successor, that successor will have before him an arduous task in endeavouring to follow in the footsteps of my hon. Friend.
§ MR. DISRAELISir, we have heard on this side of the House the announcement of the resignation of the Chairman of Ways and Means with deep regret, and it is the universal wish of those who sit on this side that I should offer to him, on my own part and on theirs, this public tribute of our respect. The hon. Gentleman has brought to the discharge of his duties adequate learning, perfect impartiality, and a courtesy which has always been acknowledged, and without a combination of such rare qualities the discharge of duties so difficult could not well be fulfilled. I am sure I am only speaking the general feeling of the House when I say that these functions have never been performed with greater devotion or more to the satisfaction of the Committee, and I only hope his successor may emulate his example.