§ Mr. Bernaltook the opportunity of requesting the attention of Members to a matter that interested them all; he alluded to the Resolution of last Session regarding Printing Papers and Bills, adopted at the suggestion of the hon. Member for Middlesex, The effect of it had hitherto been, and would in future be, that no Member could obtain more than a single copy of any printed document or Bill without being obliged to pay for it, and often it was necessary for Members to send them to their constituents. Another 272 inconvenience was, that if an additional copy were wanted, a messenger must be sent for it as far as Turnstile, Lincoln's-inn-fields. This was an evil that ought to be remedied without delay.
§ The Speakerexplained the situation in which he had been placed by the Resolution of last Session. It was his duty to obey the directions of the House, and in the steps he had taken it had been his intention to carry into effect the Resolution of last Session. In order that the experiment might be fairly tried, he had desired that the price put upon printed papers should be as low as possible. As to the inconvenience of sending for papers, that might be easily remedied by appointing a place of sale nearer to the House.
Mr. F. Baringthought that the Speaker had adopted the only course that was open to him, and was perfectly justified in the steps he had taken. It had been found necessary to check the power of Members to take an unlimited number of printed papers, and the House was perhaps not aware of the immense packages of them that were sent northwards. Bills stood upon different grounds, and were excepted from the Resolution.
§ Mr. Ewartwas of opinion that it would not be enough to allow Members a certain number of copies, and that the printed papers ought to be furnished to all societies wishing to possess them.
§ Mr. Humeobserved, that in the warehouses of Parliament were not less than, 2,200,000 different printed papers, and he thought that copies of them ought to be furnished to libraries and public institutions desirous of possessing them. In future the Resolution declared that they should be sold, and the price did not amount to more than a halfpenny or a penny per sheet. Three different offices were to be opened for the sale of printed papers; one was at Mr. Hansard's, another at Mr. Knight's on Ludgate-hill, and a third ought to be in the vicinity of the House.
§ Subject dropped.