§ MR. BRYCEI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to resume the attempt on which they entered in the Session of 1888, to reform the constitution of the other House of Parliament?
§ *MR. W. H. SMITHI can only speak of the intentions of the Government so far as the present Session is concerned. I must remind the hon. Member that a little later in the Session than this the right hon. Member for Mid Lothian (Mr. W. E. Gladstone), in referring to a proposal which was before the House of Lords in 1888 for the reform of that Body, remarked that it was a subject which "in its natural dimensions would require the fresh, unbroken, and virgin energy of the House." I think the business already before the House for the present Session is not of a character which would permit of "fresh, unbroken, and virgin energy" being given to the consideration of the important measure to which the hon. Member refers.
§ MR. BRYCEIf the right hon. Gentleman considers the question still of such importance, does he desire the House to understand that he proposes to resume it in another Session?
§ *MR. W. H. SMITHI am always extremely reluctant to enter upon any indefinite undertaking.