§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Proceedings on the Reports of the Committee of Ways and Means and Committees authorising the expenditure of Public Money, other than the Committee of Supply, may be entered upon at any hour after Midnight, though opposed, and shall not be interrupted under the provisions of the Standing Order, Sittings of the House."—(Mr. A. J. Balfour.)
MB. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)said he felt bound to offer opposition to the Motion, and he would like to point out that no reasons whatever had been advanced for that infraction, as he might call it, of the Standing Orders of the House. Nothing had been alleged to warrant the Motion which the right hon. Gentleman had just made, neither had he told them for what purpose the Order was required or whether there was any Bill of such a pressing character which rendered it desirable or necessary to pass it. He would like the House to bear in mind that they were now living under the Standing Orders of 1902, which seriously curtailed the opportunities of private Members, and which enabled the Government to monopolise nearly the whole of the time of the House. It has been calculated that last session the Government took no less than seven-eighths of the time of the House, leaving only the remaining eighth for private Members, and now they were proposing a Rule which would still further limit the opportunities of private Members. Again, it should not be forgotten that the House agreed to meet at two o'clock—an early hour and extremely inconvenient to many Members—on the condition that as a rule they should not be kept in the House after midnight. He therefore looked upon this proposal which would keep Members after twelve o'clock as an infraction of the contract under which their proceedings were now governed, and he did think that before they passed such a Resolution some reasons should be advanced in support of it.
Under the Standing Orders the Twelve O'clock Rule could be suspended only for business which came 479 within four categories, namely, Bills which originated in Committee of Ways and Means, proceedings in pursuance of Acts of Parliament, proceedings in pursuance of Standing Orders, and proceedings excepted by special Motion made by a Minister of the Crown. Again, there was a provision rendering it necessary that a Bill so dealt with should be under consideration at the time of the interruption of business, but this it was now proposed to do away with by a Sessional Order, and he ventured to suggest it constituted a very strong departure from the spirit of the original agreement. When the Standing Orders of 1902 were introduced they were led to believe in their finality, but, as a matter of fact, there was no finality, and both last year and the year before a similar Motion to this was made which further restricted the rights of the House, further interfered with the convenience of Members, and at the same time considerably enlarged the powers of the Government. The Prime Minister had given the House to understand that he did not intend to stay after midnight, and if he went a large number of Members would naturally follow his example, with the result that these important questions would be discussed in a depleted House.
He would like to ask one or two Questions. Why was this Resolution required? What sort of Bills was it intended to refer to? Was it intended to facilitate the further creation of irregular debt which was concerned with public works? If so, then he thought that the House should strongly resist it. He wished to put the matter as strongly as possible, and he complained, first, that no reason was given for this Motion; secondly, that, if there was a reason, the objects or nature of the Bills to come under it should be specified; and thirdly, his suggestion was that the proposal constituted a very serious infraction of the bargain made with the House when the Standing Orders of 1902 were passed. He hoped the right hon. Gentleman would, before the debate closed, give them some explanations on those points.
§ MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)said he certainly thought that the House was bound to make a protest not only 480 against the Resolution, but against the way in which it had been proposed. The right hon. Gentleman had moved it simply by a nod of his head as if it were a mere matter of course. But it was nothing of the kind; and the right hon. Gentleman, having spent so much time in the year 1902 on a brand-new set of Standing Orders, certainly ought now, when he was proposing, without explanation and without any justification whatever, a new Sessional Order, to be called upon to state his reasons. Before a vote was taken he ought to tell them for what particular business it was desired to suspend the Twelve O'clock Rule. This was a Sessional Order which would entirely override the new Standing Orders parsed after so much discussion only two years ago. In 1903 this Sessional Order was Carried by a majority, but in opposition to the wishes of a very considerable minority. In 1904 it was again proposed, but it was unanimously rejected by the House of Commons, and, therefore he did not think the right hon. Gentleman was in a position to quote any precedent for his present proposal. One of the chief arguments raised in the House in support of the Twelve O'clock Rule was that it would prevent Supply and other financial business coming on after midnight, and it certainly had been a perfect scandal that business of that nature should be dealt with in the early hours of the morning when the House was depleted, when proper discussion could not take place, and when there was no probability of the proceedings being reported. Now the right hon. Gentleman was proposing, almost at the beginning of the session, a Sessional Order which would operate for the whole session, and which would enable him to take very important business after midnight. He was making this proposal without a single word of explanation, and hon. Members who wished to safeguard the rights of private Members, especially in regard to the discussion of financial matters, should most vigorously protest against this proceeding. He would not, indeed, be surprised if the Motion were defeated as last year, but whatever its fate, he hoped that the hon. Member for King's Lynn, who had done most valuable service in the past in protecting the rights of disscussion in that House, especially on financial 481 matters, would receive the support which he deserved.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.said he hoped there would be no opposition to the passing of the Order, which he was sure was for the convenience not merely of the present or of future Governments, but of the House itself. It was perfectly true he did not introduce the Resolution, by any statement of reasons, and why did he not do so? The right hon. Gentleman who had just spoken had referred to it as if it had never been, heard of before, and he had not dealt with its antecedent history.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESI said it was passed in 1903 and was again brought forward last year and defeated.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURsaid that the right hon. Gentleman certainly had carried the history back to 1903, but the Resolution was one which in substance, and even in terms, had been passed, he believed, without any discussion, debate, or objection by different Administrations over a long period of years.
§ MR. JOHN REDMONDWe are now under new rules.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURsaid it was perfectly true that new rules had been brought in and they were not yet finished. They were never intended to be a complete settlement of the regulations regarding the business of the House for all time. He was not asking the House to make this a Standing Order, because that would necessarily involve a longer debate. He would like to point out that this Order differed from its predecessors in one important respect. Under its old form Reports of Supply were taken away from the operation of the Twelve O'clock Rule, but now Reports of Supply were left under it. It would be in the memory and experience of many hon. Members how Reports of Supply had had to be dealt with in the small hours of the morning, but now the greater part of the financial business of the House was altogether outside the purview of this Sessional Order. The Budget Bill was 482 exempted from the Twelve O'clock Rule, but most of the financial business, and especially Reports of Supply, was not touched by it.
§ MR. CALDWELL (Lanarkshire, Mid.)No, but then you have automatic closure for Reports of Supply.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOUR, in conclusion, said he was sure that all sections of the House would desire that this Sessional Order should be passed. It would not be to the advantage of either one Party or the other, bus it would be for the convenience of the whole House, and, under the circumstances, he trusted that they would not further occupy time which it was desired to allocate for the discussion of other business.
§ MR. BUCHANAN (Perthshire, E.)said the Prime Minister had not answered a single one of the Questions put by the hon. Member for King' Lynn. Everything depended on the Bills involving money which the Government intended to introduce during this session. Undoubtedly, some important Money Bills were to be introduced. They had had it from the Government that it would be necessary to have a Military Works Bill, and a Naval Works Bill this session, and it was within their memory that these Bills were usually introduced very late in the session, and that the most important portion of the discussion on them always took place on the Report of the Resolution on which they were founded. Now, this Sessional Order would enable that step to be entered upon after midnight, and he thought that would seriously militate against the proper consideration of these questions. Those Bills were, after all, kind of supplementary military and naval budgets, and it was most important that the House should have full and ample opportunity of discussing the financial bearing of the Bills at a reasonable hour of the evening. He, therefore, hoped that the Prime Minister would be able to exempt from the operation of this Sessional Order those important subjects.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESasked if the Prime Minister would state what Bills he intended to deal with under this rule. 483 He presumed they would be the Consolidated Fund Bill, the Appropriation Bill, the Naval Works Bill, and the Military Works Bill.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURsaid that the Resolution would undoubtedly apply to all four of those Bills, and he did not think there was anything wrong in that. He would like to point out that there were very full and ample opportunities of discussing the Military and Naval Works Loans Bills on their various stages. In his opinion the Motion was in the interests of public business, and was for the convenience of hon. Members.
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSON (Dundee)said it was quite clear that the number of measures affected by the passing of this Resolution would be unusually large this year.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI do not think so.
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONsaid three more Bill would be affected than last year. There would be the extra Consolidated Fund Bill—and in passing he should like to ask the right hon. Gentleman when he proposed to introduce it—and there would be the Loan Bills for Naval and Military Works. The right hon. Gentleman had stated that there were full opportunities of discussing Bills founded upon Resolutions in the Committee of Ways and Means, but he would remind the House that in the discussion of all Bills founded on such Resolutions, they had found themselves at every subsequent stage hampered and tied by the terms of the Resolution itself. In view of that he thought it was desirable that there should be an opportunity for discussion before midnight.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURIt does not touch the Committee stage of the Resolutions at all.
§ MR. EDMUND ROBERTSONsaid it touched the Report stage, which was equally important. This was another illustration of the policy of the right hon. Gentleman in treating all financial Bills as mere formalities. If the Report stage 484 were unimportant let it be cut away altogether, but if they were going to maintain the rights of the House let them maintain them to their full extent.
§ MR. LOUGH (Islington, W.)said that not one of the Questions put to the Prime Minister in regard to the Motion had been satisfactorily answered by the right hon. Gentleman, and if he had exhausted his right of speech in that debate it was to be hoped that the Secretary to the Treasury would be put up to give further explanations. He would like, in the first place, to ask how it was that last year they got through so well after defeating unanimously a Resolution of this kind. Did not that experience show that the Resolution was quite unnecessary? Then, again, why had it been put down for that day Was there some reason in regard to the discussions on the War Office Votes which rendered it necessary that it should be taken that afternoon? Thirdly, he would like to know why the Resolution was so widely drawn. The Resolution was much too widely drawn. The House was willing to give all necessary facilities for specific business, and not one of the hon. Members who had spoken on that point but had admitted in principle that it might be necessary with regard to some of their business to take some step of this kind. But this Resolution would include anything. It would include a new transaction like the Cunard Agreement that they had a year or two ago, and was rather too widely drawn to receive the assent of the House. This Resolution was a bad example of the hustling of money business which the Prime Minister had adopted on every occasion. All discussion of money business had either been greatly abridged or entirely destroyed, and he thought the House ought to draw the line. This would, he considered, be a very good occasion upon which to do it, and he asked the Prime Minister to withdraw this Resolution altogether and bring in one in more moderate terms.
§ MP. DALZIEL (Kirkcaldy Burghs)said he begged to offer his humble protest against any proposal—especially one of this kind—which violated the sanctity of the Twelve O'clock Rule, 485 When the new rules under which they met at two o'clock were submitted to the House, the strong argument of the Prime Minister was that they would be able to get away at twelve o'clock, and they would know if they were going to be kept late. At the time, some of them expressed the opinion that the old system would go on, and that they would never be sure when the business of the House was going to end. If hon. Members looked at the Business Paper it was practically impossible to say when they could get away at twelve o'clock at night, and here they had the Prime Minister actually recommending this proposal to the House because certain Bills could not be commenced until after twelve o'clock at night—a most preposterous suggestion. He thought they had a right to complain that in every possible way, and session after session, raids were being made upon the time of the House and upon the time of hon. Members. Were hon. Members on the other side aware that they were supporting a Resolution which would be taken full advantage of, probably before many sessions were over. What would hon. Members do then? Would they support the Government of the day? As far as he was concerned, he should, even if he was alone, vote against any proposal that the House should sit after twelve o'clock at night. His experience was that sitting after twelve o'clock was not good for the temper of the House, nor was it good for public business, and he ventured to say that no Leader of the House, who gave an impartial opinion, would be inclined to support late sittings. There was no reason why they should, without any notice at all, be called upon to sit after twelve o'clock of Supply after twelve o'clock. At night on any occasion when the Patronage Secretaty or the First Lord of the Treasuy decreed the they should do so It was the uncertainty against which he protested, because it necessitated hon. Members going to the trouble of inquiring whether or not the Government were going to take the Report stage of a money Bill. He was surprised at the light-heartedness with which the right hon. Gentleman the Prime Minister talked of the Report stage, which had always been regarded as being equal in 486 importance to the Committee stage. In the first place it was the reconsideration by the House of the proposals before the committee, and in the second place, it gave hon. Members an opportunity of replying to the case which was put forward by the Minister. It would be a very bad day for the House when the Report stage was looked upon as merely a mechanical matter and as being of no importance at all. The right hon. Gentleman said it did not apply to Supply, but would he undertake that at a later period of the session he would not include Supply in a similar Motion.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURYes, Sir.
§ MR. DALZIELYes, but the right hon. Gentleman will guillotine, and the right hon. Gentleman, if I am not mistaken, included Supply at a later period of the session last year.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThat was done under the Standing Order.
§ MR. DALZIELwent on to say that, as far as the Report stage of Supply last session was concerned, they had no Report stage. What happened was that they had the Committee stage, and then, week after week and month after month, the Report stage was postponed only to be taken under the operation of the guillotine.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe hon. Member asked me for an undertaking that I will not take the Report stage of Supply after twelve o'clock. I will give the undertaking.
§ MR. DALZIELsaid the right hon. Gentleman gave that undertaking with the proviso that he would take it when the guillotine stage was reached, which was a very ingenious way of saying that he would postpone the Report stage until it could be taken after twelve o'clock without discussion. What they were doing on that occasion was in the first place to Twelve O'clock Rule, and in the second place they were practically doing away with the Report stage of these measures, because, although at the present moment only money Bills might be involved, they 487 knew that in the long run this Resolution would be carried session after session until the Report stage was always taken after twelve o'clock at night. Really no case had been presented to the House for this proposal. There was no urgency, and the right hon. Gentleman was not so anxious to get forward legislation as to entitle him to ask them to sit after twelve o'clock at night to deal with these money Bills. He had an idea that perhaps the right hon. Gentleman intended to clear up the money business as soon as possible on top of the Budget, and then go to the country and ask for a fresh lease of power. He did not know whether that was in the right hon. Gentleman's mind in bringing forward this Resolution at the present time. If the right hon. Gentleman stated that he had that notion he would get the Resolution passed without the slightest opposition on that side of the House. His point was as to the uncertainty on the part of Members on that side of the House in regard to whether the Government were going to take money Bills or not. The Government ought to give them some pledge that they would indicate the time when these stages would be taken, or when they intended that the House should sit after twelve o'clock, so that they might have an opportunity of expressing their opinion on that point. In order to secure that some public attention should be given to the Report stage of these, measures, he would move as an Amendment to insert in line 4 of the Resolution after the word ''may" the following words: "At least two days notice having previously been publicly given." If the right hon. Gentle man would undertake to give them at Question time, two days before, notice when the Report stage would be taken, he would not consider it necessary to press his Amendment, but he considered that the House should at all events have forty-eight hours notice.
§ MR. COURTENAY WARNER (Staffordshire, Lichfield)seconded the Amendment.
§
Amendment proposed—
After the word 'may,' to insert the words 'at least two days notice having previously been publicly given.'"—(Mr. Dalziel.)
§ Question proposed, "That those words be there inserted."
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI think the hon. Gentleman is reasonable when he asks that these matters should not be suddenly sprung upon the House late at night without any knowledge on the part of hon. Members that we were going to ask them to sit beyond midnight, but I think he is unreasonable when he asks for forty-eight hours notice. I should be quite prepared to say I would not take the Report stage on any one of these Bills in reply to a Question. Will hon. Members undertake to put a Question forty-eight hours beforehand?
§ MR. DALZIELI would rather the right hon. Gentleman undertook to announce and give notice the day before.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI will endeavour to do that.
§ MR. DALZIELIf we set down a Question he might not be in a position to give an Answer.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURVery well, I will endeavour to give twenty-four hours notice.
§ MR. DALZIELThen I beg to withdraw my Amendment.
§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
§ Main Question put.
§ The House divided:—Ayes, 241; Noes, 174. (Division List No. 102.)
491| AYES. | ||
| Agg-Gardner, James Tynte | Arnold-Forster, Rt. Hn. Hugh O | Balcarres, Lord |
| Agnew, Sir Andrew Noel | Arrol, Sir William | Baldwin, Alfred |
| Allhusen, Augustus Henry Eden | Atkinson, Rt. Hon. John | Balfour, Rt. Hn. A. J.(Manch'r |
| Allsopp, Hon. George | Bagot, Capt. Josceline Fitz Roy | Balfour, Rt Hn Gerald W(Leeds) |
| Anson, Sir William Reynell | Bailey, James (Walworth) | Banbury, Sir Frederick George |
| Arkwright, John Stanhope | Baird, John George Alexander | Banner, John S. Harmood- |
| Barry, Sir F. T. (Windsor) | Gray, Ernest (West Ham) | Mount, William Arthur |
| Bartley, Sir George C. T. | Green, Walford D.(Wednesbury | Mowbray, Sir Robert Gray C. |
| Bentinck, Lord Henry C. | Greene, Sir EW (B'rySEdm'nds) | Muntz, Sir Philip A. |
| Bhownaggree, Sir M. M. | Greene, W. Raymond (Cambs.) | Murray, Col. Wyndham (Bath) |
| Bignold, Sir Arthur | Groves, James Grimble | Myers, William Henry |
| Bigwood, James | Hain, Edward | Nicholson, William Graham |
| Bill, Charles | Halsey, Rt. Hn. Thomas F. | Palmer, Sir Walter (Salisbury |
| Bingham, Lord | Hamilton, Marq. of (L'nd'ndery | Parker, Sir Gilbert |
| Blundell, Colonel Henry | Hare, Thomas Leigh | Parkes, Ebenezer |
| Bond, Edward | Harris, F. Leverton (Tynem'th | Peel, Hn. W. Robert Wellesley |
| Boscawen, Arthur Griffith | Haslam, Sir Alfred S. | Pemberton, John S. G. |
| Boulnois, Edmund | Hay, Hon. Claude George | Percy, Earl |
| Brassey, Albert | Heath, Sir Jas. (Staffords. N. W | Pilkington, Colonel Richard |
| Brodrick, Rt. Hn. St. John | Heaton, John Henniker | Platt-Higgins, Frederick |
| Bull, William James | Helder, Augustus | Plummer, Sir Walter R. |
| Burdett-Coutts, W. | Hermon-Hodge Sir Robert | Pretyman, Ernest George |
| Butcher, John George | Hickman, Sir Alfred | Pryce-Jones, Lt.-Col. Edward |
| Campbell, Rt. Hn J A Glasgow) | Hoare, Sir Samuel | Purvis, Robert |
| Campbell, J. H.M(Dublin Univ. | Hogg, Lindsay | Pym, C. Guy |
| Carson, Rt. Hn. Sir Edw. H. | Hope, J.F(Sheffield, Brightside | Quilter, Sir Cuthbert |
| Cautley, Henry Strother | Hornby, Sir William Henry | Randles, John S. |
| Cavendish, R. F. (N. (Lanes.) | Horner, Frederick William | Rasch, Sir Frederic Carne |
| Cavendish, V.C.W(Derbyshire) | Hoult, Joseph | Ratcliff, R. F. |
| Cayzer, Sir Charles William | Howard, J. (Kent, Faversham) | Reid, James (Greenock) |
| Cecil, Evelyn (Aston Manor) | Howard, J. (Midd.,Tottenham) | Renshaw, Sir Charles Bine |
| Chapman, Edward | Hozier, Hon. Jas. Henry Cecil | Ridley, S. Forde |
| Clive, Captain Percy A. | Hudson, George Bickersteth | Ritchie, Rt. Hn. Chas. Thomson |
| Cochrane, Hon. Thos. H. A. E. | Hunt, Rowland | Roberts, Samuel (Sheffield) |
| Coddington, Sir William | Jebb, Sir Richard Claverhouse | Robertson, Herbert (Hackney) |
| Coghill, Douglas Harry | Jeffreys, Rt. Hn. Arthur Fred | Robinson, Brooke |
| Cohen, Benjamin Louis | Jessel, Captain Herbert Merton | Rolleston, Sir John F. L. |
| Collings, Rt. Hon. Jesse | Kenyon, Hn. Geo. T. (Denbigh | Rollit Sir Albert Kaye |
| Colston, Chas. Edw. H. Athole | Kenyon-Slaney, Rt. Hn.Col.W. | Ropner, Colonel Sir Robert |
| Corbett, T. L. (Down, North) | Kerr, John | Round, Rt. Hon. James |
| Craig, Chas. Curtis (Antrim, S. | Keswick, William | Royds, Clement Molyneux |
| Cripps, Charles Alfred | Kimber, Sir Henry | Rutherford, John (Lancashire) |
| Crossley, Rt. Hn. Sir Savile | Knowles, Sir Lees | Sackville, Col. S. G. Stopford |
| Cubitt, Hon. Henry | Lambton, Hon. Frederick Wm. | Sadler, Col. Samuel Alexander |
| Dalrymple, Sir Charles | Laurie, Lieut.-General | Samuel Sir H. S. (Limehouse) |
| Davenport, William Bromley | Law, Andrew Bonar (Glasgow) | Scott, Sir S. (Marylebone, W.) |
| Denny, Colonel | Lawson, Hn. H. L. W.(Mile End | Sharpe William Edward T. |
| Dickinson, Robert Edmond | Lawson, John Grant (Yorks N R | Shaw-Stewart, Sir H (Renfrew) |
| Dickson, Charles Scott | Lees, Sir Elliott (Birkenhead | Sinclair, Louis (Romford) |
| Dimsdale, Rt. Hn. Sir J. C. | Legge, Col. Hon. Heneage | Skewes-Cox, Thomas |
| Dixon-Hartland, Sir Fred Dixon | Leveson-Gower, Frederick N.S | Sloan, Thomas Henry |
| Doughty, Sir George | Llewellyn, Evan Henry | Smith, H. C(North'mbTyneside |
| Douglas, Rt. Hn. A. Akers- | Lockwood, Lieut.-Col. A. R. | Smith Hn. W. F. D. (Strand) |
| Doxford, Sir Wm. Theodore | Long, Col. Chas. W. (Evesham | Spear John Ward |
| Egerton, Hon. A. de Tatton | Long, Rt. Hn Walter) Bristol, S. | Spear, john Ward |
| Faber, Edmund B. (Hants, W.) | Lonsdale, John Brownlee | Spencer, Sir E (W. Bromwich) |
| Faber, George Denison (York) | Lowe, Francis William | Stanley Rt. Hn. Arthur (Ormskirk) |
| Fellowes, Hn. Ailwyn Edward | Lowther, C. (Cumb. (Eskdale) | Stanley, Rt Hn. Lord (Lancs.) |
| Fergusson, Rt Hn. Sir J(Manc'r | Loyd, Archie Kirkman | Stone, Sir Benjamin |
| Fielden, Edward Broeklehurst | Lucas, Col. Francis (Lowestoft) | Stoyan, John |
| Finch, Rt. Hn. George H. | Lucas, Reginald J. (Portsm'th) | Taylor, Austin (East Toxteth) |
| Finlay, Sir R. B(Inv'rn'ssB' ghs | Lyttelton, Rt. Hon. Alfred | Thorburn, Sir Walter |
| Fisher, William Hayes | MacIver, David (Liverpool) | Thornton, Percy M. |
| Flower, Sir Ernest | Maconochie, A. W. | Tollemache, Henry James |
| Forster, Henry William | M'Arthur, Chas. (Liverpool) | Tomlison, Sir Wm. Edw. M. |
| Foster, Philip S (Warwick S. W. | Majendie, James A. H. | Tuff, Charles |
| Galloway, William Johnson | Malcolm, Ian | Tuke, Sir John Batty |
| Gardner, Ernest | Maxwell, Rt Hn Sir HE(Wigt'n) | Turnour, Viscount |
| Garfit, William | Maxwell, W. J. H(Dumfriessh. | Walrond, Rt. Hn. Sir Wm. H. |
| Godson, Sir Augustus Fredk. | Meysey-Thompson Sir H. M. | Warde, colonel C. E. |
| Gordon, Hn. J. E (Elgin&Nairn | Mildmay, Francis Bingham | Warde, Colonel C.E. |
| Gordon, J. (Londonderry S.) | Milvain, Thomas | Welby, Lt. Col A.C E.(Taunton |
| Gordon, Maj Evans-(T'rH'ml's | Montagu, Hn. J. Scott (Hants) | Welby, Sir Chas. G.E.(Notts.) |
| Gore, Hon. S. F Ormsby | Moon, Edward Robert Pacy | Whiteley, H. (Ashton UndLyne |
| Gorst, Rt. Hn. Sir John Eldon | Moore, William | Whitemore, Charles Algernon |
| Goschen Hn. George Joachim | Morpeth, Viscount | Williams, Colonel R. (Dorset) |
| Goulding, Edward Alfred | Morrell, George Herbert | Willoughby de Eresby, Lord |
| Graham, Henry Robert | Morton, Arthur H. Aylmer | Wilson. A. Stanley (York, E.R.) |
| Wilson, John (Glasgow) | Wortley, Rt. Hon. C. B. Stuart | TELLERS FOR THE AYES—Sir |
| Wilson-Todd, Sir W.H(Yorks.) | Wrightson, Sir Thomas | Alexander Acland-Hood and |
| Wodehouse, Rt. Hn. E.R(Bath | Yerburgh, Robert Armstrong | Viscount Valentia. |
| Wolff, Gustav Wilhelm | Younger, William | |
| NOES. | ||
| Abraham, William (Cork, N.E. | Harrington, Timothy | Partington, Oswald |
| Abraham, William (Rhondda) | Harwood, George | Paulton, James Mellor |
| Ainsworth, John Stirling | Hayden, John Patrick | Pease, J. A. (Saffron Walden) |
| Allen, Charles P. | Hayter, Rt. Hn. Sir Arthur D. | Pirie, Duncan V. |
| Ashton, Thomas Gair | Healy, Timothy Michael | Power, Patrick Joseph |
| Barry, E. (Cork, S.) | Hemphill, Rt. Hn. Charles H. | Price, Robert John |
| Benn, John Williams | Henderson, Arthur (Durham) | Priestley, Arthur |
| Black, Alexander William | Hobhouse, C. E.H. (Bristol, E.) | Reddy, M. |
| Blake, Edward | Holland, Sir William Henry | Redmond, John E.(Waterford) |
| Boland, John | Horniman, Frederick John | Reid, Sir R. Threshie(Dumfries |
| Brigg, John | Hutchinson, Dr. Chas. Fredk. | Richards, Thos. (W.Monm'th) |
| Bright, Allan Heywood | Hutton, Alfred E. (Morley) | Rickett, J. Compton |
| Broadhurst, Henry | Jacoby, James Alfred | Roberts, John H. (Denbighs.) |
| Bryce, Rt. Hn. James | Johnson, John | Robertson, Edmund (Dundee) |
| Burke, E. Haviland | Jones, David Brynmor(Swansea | Roche, John |
| Burt, Thomas | Jones, Leif (Appleby) | Roe, Sir Thomas |
| Buxton, Sydney Charles | Jones, William (Carnarvonshire | Rose, Charles Day |
| Caldwell, James | Joyce, Michael | Runciman, Walter |
| Cameron, Robert | Kennedy, Vincent P.(Cavan,W | Samuel, Herb. L. (Cleveland) |
| Campbell, John (Armagh, S.) | Kilbride, Denis | Seely, Maj. J. E. B(Isle of Wight) |
| Causton, Richard Knight | Labouchere, Henry | Shackleton, David James |
| Cawley, Frederick | Lambert, George | Shaw, Thomas (Hawick, B.) |
| Cheetham, John Fredk. | Lamont, Norman | Sheehy, David |
| Clancy, John Joseph | Langley, Batty | Shipman, Dr. John G. |
| Condon, Thomas Joseph | Law, Hugh Alex(Donegal, W.) | Sinclair, John (Forfarshire) |
| Crean, Eugene | Lawson, Sir Wilfrid (Cornwall) | Soames, Arthur Wellesley |
| Crombie, John William | Layland-Barratt, Francis | Spencer, Rt Hn CR(Northants) |
| Crooks, William | Leese, Sir J. F. (Accrington) | Stanhope, Hon. Philip James |
| Cullinan, J. | Leigh, Sir Joseph | Stevenson, Francis S. |
| Dalziel, James Henry | Levy, Maurice | Strachey, Sir Edward |
| Davies, M. Vaughan (Cardigan) | Lewis, John Herbert | Sullivan, Donal |
| Delany, William | Lloyd-George, David | Taylor, Theodore C. (Radcliffe) |
| Devlin, Joseph (Kilkenny, N.) | Lough, Thomas | Tennant, Harold John |
| Dilke, Rt. Hn. Sir Charles | Lundon, W. | Thomas, Sir A. (Glamorgan, E. |
| Dobbie, Joseph | MacNeill, John GordonSwift | Thomas,J.A (Glamorgan, Gower |
| Donelan, Captain A. | MacVeagh, Jeremiah | Tomkinson, James |
| Doogan, P. C. | M'Crae, George | Trevelyan, Charles Philips |
| Douglas, Chas. M. (Lanark) | M'Kenna, Reginald | Walton, Joseph (Barnsley) |
| Duffy, William J. | M'Killop, W. (Sligo, North) | Warner, Thomas Courtenay T. |
| Edwards, Frank | Mansfield, Horace Rendall | Wason, Eugene (Clackmannan) |
| Ellice, CaptEC(S. Andrw'sBghs | Moulton, John Fletcher | Wason, John Cathcart(Orkney) |
| Ellis, John Edward (Notts) | Murphy, John | Weir, James Galloway |
| Emmott, Alfred | Nannetti, Joseph P. | White, George (Norfolk) |
| Esmonde, Sir Thomas | Nolan, Col. John (Galway, N.) | White, Luke (York, E.R.) |
| Evans, Sir F. H. (Maidstone) | Nolan, Joseph (Louth, South) | Whiteley, George (York,W.R.) |
| Fen wick, Charles | Norton, Capt. Cecil William | Whitley, J. H. (Halifax) |
| Ferguson, R. C. Munro (Leith) | Nussey, Thomas Willans | Whittaker, Thomas Palmer |
| Ffrench, Peter | O'Brien, James F. X. (Cork) | Wills, Arthur Walters(NDorset |
| Findlay, Alex. (Lanark, N.E.) | O'Brien, K. (Tipperary, Mid.) | Wilson, H. J. (York, W. R.) |
| Flynn, James Christopher | O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny) | Wilson, John (Durham, Mid.) |
| Freeman-Thomas, Captain F. | O'Brien, P. J. (Tipperary, N.) | Wilson, J.W(Worcestershire,N |
| Fuller, J. M. F. | O'Connor, James (Wicklow, W. | Woodhouse, Sir J. T (Huddersf'd |
| Gilhooly, James | O'Donnell, John (Mayo, S.) | Young, Samuel |
| Gladstone, Rt Hn. Herb. John | O'Donnell, T. (Kerry, W.) | Yoxall, James Henry |
| Goddard, Daniel Ford | O'Dowd, John | |
| Grant, Corrie | O'Kelly, Conor (Mayo, N.) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES—Mr. |
| Guest, Hn. Ivor Churchill | O'Malley, William | Gibson Bowles and Mr |
| Gurdon, Sir W. Brampton | O'Shaughnessy, P. J. | Buchanan. |
| Harcourt, Lewis | O'Shee, James John | |
| Hardie, J. Keir(MerthyrTydvil | Parrott, William |
§ Ordered, that the proceeding on the Report of the Committee of Ways and Means and Committees authorising the
492§ expenditure of public money, other than the Committee of Supply, may be entered upon at any hour after midnight, though
493§ opposed, and shall not be interrupted under the provisions of the Standing Order, Sittings of the House.