SMITHFIELD MARKET COMMITTEE. (Hansard, 9 May 1849)

§ MR. STAFFORD
moved that Mr. Eliot Yorke be discharged from further attendance on the Select Committee on Smith-field Market, and that Sir De Lacy Evans be added to the Committee.

§ MR. MACKINNON
opposed the Motion on the ground of the unprecedented and unusual course adopted by the hon. Member in making the Motion. No communication had been made by the hon. Member to the Committee of his intention to bring forward such a Motion. As Chairman of the Committee, he believed that he expressed correctly the opinions of the other Members of the Committee, when he said that they were perfectly satisfied with the Committee as at present constituted. There had been an ample attendance of the Members of the Committee during its proceedings, never less than thirteen out of the fifteen Members, and he could not conceive any possible reason for making any alteration in the Committee.

§ MR. B. OSBORNE
said, that however unprecedented the course might be that was followed by the hon. Member for Northamptonshire, he believed that he was entitled to the thanks of persons connected with very great interests both in the metropolis and in the country, for the course he had pursued. However well some Members of the Committee might be satisfied with the constitution of the Committee, the butchers of the metropolis and the graziers 176 of the country were far from being satisfied with it. It was not at all unreasonable that the hon. Member for Northamptonshire, knowing that those parties were dissatisfied with the Committee, should endeavour to have some hon. Member on the Committee to represent the interests of a most deserving body of men.' Without intending any disrespect to Mr. Eliot Yorke, who, he believed, had not attended the Committee at all, he thought his place would be better supplied by the hon. and gallant Member for Westminster. Another reason why a metropolitan Member should be appointed in the room of Mr. Eliot Yorke was, that his noble Colleague, who was suffering from ill health (Lord R. Grosvenor), was at present at Madeira, and would not be able to attend the Committee. He hoped, therefore, that the House would accede to the Motion of his hon. Friend.

MR. ORMSBY GORE
said, that he considered the Committee to be fairly constituted; indeed, if the Committee were composed of Scotch and Irish Members exclusively, who were unconnected with the different interests concerned, it would be the more likely to arrive at a perfectly independent decision.

§ SIR C. DOUGLAS
expressed his surprise that this Motion should have been made. The hon. Gentleman the Member for Cambridgeshire had given great attention to the subject upon the former Committee; and to move to discharge him without any request from him, or any acquiescence on his part, was, at least, an unusual proceeding. If the parties interested in the question were not properly represented upon the Committee, an addition to it might be moved, and the hon. Member for Middlesex might be substituted for his noble Colleague (Lord R. Grosvenor), who was unable to attend, but certainly no grounds had been laid for the present Motion.

§ MR. CHRISTOPHER
contended that the grazing interests were fairly represented upon the Committee, and that great inconvenience would arise if the practice was sanctioned of Motions to discharge individual Members without consulting either the Chairman, the Committee, or the Member himself.

§ SIR G. GREY
, having been appealed to, could only say it appeared to be an unusual course to propose the substitution of one Member for another, without communication with the Chairman, or some of the Committee, unless some strong reason was 177 assigned for it. The hon. Member for Middlesex had stated, that his noble Colleague (Lord R. Grosvenor) was absent from ill-health. He (Sir G. Grey) had no doubt that if the hon. Gentleman the Member for Northamptonshire would communicate with the Chairman, an arrangement might be made by which the place of the noble Lord would be supplied.

§ MR. STAFFORD
said, he had a precedent for the Motion, inasmuch as the Chairman of the Committee had upon a previous occasion proposed the omission of Mr. Eliot Yorke's name. Mr. Yorke, he understood, was unwell. He had not yet attended the meetings of the Committee, and there was a feeling among those interested in the trade of the market that their interests were not sufficiently represented. As to not having communicated himself with the Committee, he was not aware it was necessary; but, as representing a grazing county, he thought it would be far better that his own name should be struck off it, than that the Committee should remain as it was. The hon. and gallant Member for Westminster was willing to serve if appointed.
After a short conversation, in which Sir G. Grey, Mr. B. Osborne, and Mr. Ormsby Gore engaged, Mr. Stafford proposed to withdraw his Motion; Mr. Mackinnon undertaking to ascertain whether Lord R. Grosvenor was likely to return to this country during the sitting of the Committee; and if he were not, to consult with the Committee as to the substitution of some other Member.