§ MR. CAVENDISH BENTINCKrose to enter his protest against the mode adopted by Her Majesty's Government in reference to the Public Business of the House. One of the most important functions that House had to discharge was the voting of public money, and he had always understood the practice to be that Supply should be taken at those 1499 times only when there was likely to be a good attendance of Members. Indeed, when he first had the honour of a seat in that House, it rarely happened that Supply was put down for consideration at a morning sitting, and he felt satisfied that if the late Mr. Joseph Hume were now in the House, his voice would have been heard condemning the practice. The result of the present innovation was, that the ancient constitutional right of hon. Members to bring forward grievances on going into Committee of Supply had been altogether abrogated on Monday nights. He wished to have an explanation of the reasons which had led to the adoption of a plan, whereby the power of independent Members to bring forward questions of public interest on the Motion to go into Committee of Supply had been so considerably curtailed. He protested against the practice of putting Supply upon the Paper at a morning sitting, and doing so without giving reasonable notice. He appealed to the hon. Member for Brighton (Mr. White) and other hon. Members below the gangway, who professed to be the economists of the present day, whether they approved the plan of discussing questions of Supply in a thin House, many hon. Members being prevented attending morning sittings by professional and commercial engagements. At the present time, taking into consideration the decrepitude of Parliament, he did not think it necessary to take the opinion of the House on the subject, but he must enter his protest against a most objectionable practice.
MR. GLADSTONEsaid, that whatever might be the decrepitude of Parliament, he was glad to see that there were no signs of decrepitude in the hon. Gentleman who had just addressed the House, and who seemed to regard the question which he had brought up as a very great grievance. A brief explanation would, however, put the matter in a light different from that in which the hon. Gentleman had presented it to the House. Much that the hon. Gentleman had said, he had heard with great satisfaction. For instance, he had expressed the deep feeling of regret, longing, and reverence with which he looked back upon the memory of Mr. Joseph Hume, and he (Mr. Gladstone) recognized the debt they all owed to Mr. Hume for the patient and valuable, though irksome, work 1500 which he most ably and honourably performed in the service of the public. The hon. Gentleman then said there used to be no Order to take Supply at morning sittings, one possible reason for that being that at the time of which the hon. Member spoke there were no such sittings. The reason why Supply had been put upon the Paper was, that the Votes last night had not been taken after a certain hour, and had been postponed. The necessity for taking the Vote at present arose from the fact that the payment of money would be required at the beginning of next week, and it had been thought desirable that the money should be voted and paid regularly. The particular Vote was that relating to the Post Office Packet Service, from which would be omitted the item relating to the Zanzibar service, which had been referred to a Select Committee.
§ Motion agreed to.