§ Mr Goulburn, seeing the President of the Board of Trade in his place, wished to ask him respecting a proceeding which took place at a late hour last night, of which, although the right hon. Gentleman had given some explanation to him in private, he thought it was also due to the House that the explanation should be public. The right hon. Member had carried the second reading of the Inland Warehousing Bill, and he had given notice that he should move for a select committee on the general question, to which the bill should be referred. He remained in the House until 10 o'clock at night, but, understanding that the navy estimates were likely to last, he quitted the 858 House. He found, however, that the motion of which he had given notice was moved, and that the names of the Members of the committee to be appointed under that motion were inserted in the votes. Of all the proceedings of an irregular nature which had ever come under his cognisance, this was by far the most irregular; for he was sure the House would see what great injustice would be done, if Gentlemen on one side were to take up notices given by Gentlemen opposite, and to pass them without any discussion. A committee which, in the ordinary course, would have been moved by him, now seemed to have been moved by another person. The right hon. Gentleman had told him that he did not intend that the names should be inserted. The hon. Gentleman having made that statement, he was bound to give it most entire credit. He however, complained of the other part of the proceeding—viz., that a motion was made in his absence, without the possibility of his interfering in the settlement of a question in which he took the greatest interest, and which, he believed, had it not been for the notice which he had given, the House would not have been called upon to investigate.
§ Mr. Labouchereobserved that the right hon. Gentleman had made two distinct complaints. The first was, that after he had given notice of the appointment of a select committee on the subject of inland bonding warehouses, and had left the House without making the motion, he had taken the liberty of making it for him. Nothing was further from his intention than to do what was unfair. Could he have entertained the smallest doubt of the right hon. Gentleman's acquiescence, he should not have ventured to do it. He had stated that it was of the greatest importance that on an early day an inquiry into this subject should take place. He appealed to Gentlemen opposite whether he did not say to the right hon. Gentleman's friend, "will you have the goodness to move the committee for your right hon. Friend?" The right hon. Gentleman intimated that he could not do it. That was the reason why he did move it. He now came to the circumstance of having put on the votes the list of the names of the committee. He felt that if he had done that he should have acted contrary to the usual courtesy, and contrary to the express understanding which he had come 859 to with the right hon. Gentleman, and therefore, he was most anxious to explain how that was. He assured the right hon. Gentleman that when he saw the votes this morning he was quite as much surprised as he could have been. This was the simple account of the transaction. Talking to the hon. Member for Cheshire on the subject of the committee, he asked for some names which he thought would be proper. He and his hon. Friend each took a list and wrote down the names as they occurred to one or the other. When he left the House he put one list into his pocket, and it appeared that he inadvertently left the other on the table of the House, and after every one had left the House the clerk found this list on the table, and concluding that it was a list which had been given in, inserted it in the votes. Of course he had meant to discuss the list with the right hon. Gentleman. He hoped that, after this explanation, the right hon. Gentleman would be satisfied that he did not mean to act with discourtesy to him.
§ Subject dropped.