§ Mr. Ormsby Gore moved, "That it be an instruction to the Committee of Selection (if they see fit), to refer the Severn Navigation Bill to a Select Committee." The Severn was a large river, navigable for upwards of 200 miles, and therefore the bill affecting its navigation ought not to be referred to a committee selected exclusively from the representatives of those residing on its banks. It was, in fact, a national question, and this very bill had last year been thrown out on the second reading, on the ground that it was too important a measure to be referred to a merely local committee. One portion of the river which was likely to be improved by this measure was in the county of Worcester. Now it would be bard to refer this question to the Worcestershire list, when Gloucester-shire and Montgomeryshire were opposed 73 to it. It might be said, that he might have named a committee representing all the different interests, but that was impossible. The course which he proposed was the more prudent one, and he ap-appealed to the justice of the House to support him.
§ Mr. Laboucherewas at all times unwilling to depart from the rules laid down for the regulation of private business, as it would lead to a recurrence of the evils from which they had already suffered. If they did, Gentlemen would come down to the House, and carry such measures, from the mere force of local interests. No departure from their rules ought to be suffered, unless a case were fully made out. He should act on the present occasion as he had during the last Session, on the occasion of the Welsh Railway Bills. He should not advise the House to consider the question then, but to devolve that duty upon the committee for private business, where the statements and counter-statements of the opponents and supporters of the bill could be more fully considered than they could be in the House. He could not consent to the appointment of a Select Committee. The right hon. Gentleman concluded by moving, as an amendment, that all the petitions that had been presented, with reference to the Severn Navigation Bill, be referred to the Select Committee on Private Business. In moving this amendment, the right hon. Gentleman hoped that the committee would not recommend any departure from the regular course, unless a very special case was made out.
§ Lord G. Somersetagreed with the right hon. Gentleman, that it was proper for the House to adhere to the rules it had laid down, but he thought there were special circumstances in the present case. He considered that the bill ought to be referred to a committee of a more general character than that to which private bills were generally referred.
Mr. Hopethought the bill ought to be referred to a committee, constituted of Members who had no interest in the districts through which the river runs.
§ Mr. Craven Berkeleysaid, it appeared to him that the object of his hon. Friend was solely to obtain an impartial hearing, and he trusted that the motion would be concurred in by the House.
Mr. Ormsby Gore, in reply, said, that 74 the course proposed by the right hon. Gentleman, the President of the Board of Trade, was quite as much a departure from the rules of the House as that which had been proposed by himself. He had selected that Committee, because it must necessarily be impartial.
§ The House divided on the original question, That it be an instruction to the Committee of Selection, if they see fit, to refer the Severn Navigation Bill to a Select Committee:—Ayes 74; Noes 40—Majority 34.
| List of the AYES. | |
| A'Court, Captain | Hodgson, R. |
| Ainsworth, P. | Hogg, J. W. |
| Arbuthnott, hon. H. | Holmes, hon. W. A'Court |
| Archdall, M. | |
| Attwood, W. | Hope, hon. C. |
| Attwood, M. | Houstoun, G. |
| Baillie, H. J. | Hughes, W. B. |
| Baker, E. | James, Sir W. C. |
| Berkeley, hon. C. | Kelly, F. |
| Bethell, R. | Lennox, Lord A. |
| Bolling, W. | Liddell, hon. H. T. |
| Botfield, B. | Lowther, J. H. |
| Broadley, H. | Mackenzie, T. |
| Broadwood, H. | Mackenzie, W. F. |
| Bruce, Lord E. | Mackinnon, W. A. |
| Campbell, Sir H. | McTaggart, J. |
| Cholmondeley, hon. H. | Marsland, H. |
| Chute, W. L. W. | Neeld, J. |
| Clive, hon. R. H. | Packe, C. W. |
| Corry, hon. H. | Parker, M. |
| Dalrymple, Sir A. | Perceval, Colonel |
| Douglas, Sir C. E. | Philips M. |
| Duncombe, T. | Pigot, R. |
| Duncombe, hon. W. | Pollock, Sir F. |
| Duncombe, hon. A. | Round, C. G. |
| East, J. B. | Rushbrooke, Colonel |
| Eaton, R. J. | Scrope, G. P. |
| Eliot, Lord | Sotheron, T. E. |
| Fitzalan, Lord | Stanley, E. |
| Fitzroy, hon. H. | Tennent, J. E. |
| Forester, hon. G. | Thornely, T. |
| Gaskell, J. M. | Vere, Sir C. B. |
| Gore, O. J. R. | Villiers, hon. C. P. |
| Grimsditch, T. | Vivian, J. H. |
| Hale, R. B. | Walsh, Sir J. |
| Halford, H. | Yates, J. A. |
| Hamilton, C. J. B. | TELLERS. |
| Harcourt, G. S. | Gore, O. W. |
| Hepburn, Sir T. B. | Hope, H. T. |
| List of the NOES. | |
| Alston, R. | Ellice, E. |
| Barnard, E. G. | Estcourt, T. |
| Barry, G. S. | Ferguson, Sir R. A. |
| Bewes, T. | Freshfield, J. W. |
| Brotherton, J. | Hall, Sir B. |
| Butler, hon. Colonel | Hawes, B. |
| Craig, W. G. | Hill, Lord A. M. C. |
| Davies, Colonel | Hindley, C. |
| Easthope, J. | Hodges, T. L. |
| Hoskins, K. | Stewart, J. |
| Inglis, Sir R. H. | Strickland, Sir G. |
| James, W. | Strutt, E |
| Labouchere, rt. hn. H. | Style, Sir C. |
| Mahon, Viscount | Turner, E. |
| Morgan, O. | Warburton, H. |
| O'Connell, D. | White, A. |
| Patten, J. W. | Williams, W. |
| Pendarves, E. W. W. | Winnington, Sir T. E. |
| Philips, G. R. | TELLERS. |
| Somerset, Lord G. | Grey Sir G. |
| Stansfield, W. R. C. | Sanford, E. A. |
§ Instruction agreed to.