§ Lord Althorpsaid, considerable inconvenience often resulted to hon. Members who had notices of Motions before the House, which they were obliged to postpone from time to time, in consequence of the business of Government being allowed to have precedence of that originating with Members not forming part of the Administration. An attempt had been made last Session to establish an improved classification of business; the expermient had, however, failed, or rather, had not been put to the test of operation, owing to the intense interest felt upon the subject of Parliamentary Reform, in which all minor considerations and matters of form merged. It was his intention to submit a proposition now to the House, with a view to afford opportunities to hon. Members not connected with the Government to bring on, positively, business in which they felt interested, without running the risk of being disappointed, as was now the case. He intended to propose, that a day should be set apart when these 127 notices should not be superseded by Government business which happened to be also on the paper.
Mr. Humebelieved it to be highly necessary that a different arrangement from that now in force should take place before hon. Members could feel satisfied with the chance they had of executing business confided to their care. He had always thought it would be a far better plan, that instead of taking, as they did now, arbitrarily, the first or thirty-first topic on the list, they should be each taken up and debated in the exact order in which they were placed on the list.
§ Lord Althorpobserved, that he could not accede to a proposition which he felt would be productive of great inconvenience to Government, He hoped the arrangement he proposed, would prove that he really was anxious to afford greater facilities to individual Members, though at an expense to the officers of Government. He should, therefore, move a resolution that Orders of the Day should take precedence of notices on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and that on Wednesdays those of Government should not be entitled to precedence.
§ Resolution agreed to.