COLONEL THOMPSONobserved, that he thought the House owed it to itself to inquire whether its reputation was not involved in the maintenance of a rule by which strangers could be excluded on the Motion of a single Member. He was utterly at a loss for any reason which could be assigned for keeping up this regulation, and should be glad if any hon. Member, with greater Parliamentary experience than himself, would point out any case in which the abrogation of the rule could lead to inconvenience. 966 He trusted that the House would come to some decision which would be found useful hereafter. For his own part, he felt strongly the importance of the House so keeping up its reputation with the country, that in everything its deliberations should deserve to be designated as the "wisdom of Parliament."
§
Motion made, and Question put—
That this House will take into its consideration the rule or practice whereby Strangers have been excluded on the Motion of any single Member, with a view to alter the same; so that a Motion for the exclusion of Strangers shall be made and seconded, and Question thereupon be put, as is the practice with other Motions.
§ SIR G. GREYThe question which the hon. and gallant Gentleman had brought before the House was one of very considerable importance, and such as ought not to be briefly discussed at that hour of the night (near twelve o'clock). He was not at all prepared to say, that the time might not come when some of the rules of the House (and this among others) ought to be reconsidered and revised; but he certainly thought that the best way of doing that would be to make a full and deliberate inquiry—first, by a Special Committee, whoso duty it should be to consider what alterations were desirable. If the House thought that any change should take place, he thought that such would be the most prudent and judicious course. He hoped that his hon. and gallant Friend would not press his Motion, and that, at all events, if the matter was to be taken up, due notice would be given of bringing the matter on at an early period of the evening, so that there might be a larger attendance of Members than at the present moment, and that they might deliberately discuss the propriety of a rule of a very long standing which might not be any longer necessary, but which ought not to be hastily departed from.
§ LORD H. VANEunderstood that his hon. and gallant Friend was willing to accede to the suggestion of the right hon. Gentleman that this proposition should be referred to the consideration of a Committee, sitting under the immediate sanction of the right hon. Gentleman. [Sir G. GREY: NO, no.] His hon. and gallant Friend had shown the existence of a substantial grievance, and as he had brought forward a measure to remedy it, it was only fair that the proposition should be referred to the examination of a Committee.
§ MR. AGLIONBYshould be sorry to see 967 this question referred to a Committee, because it might then be put off for an indefinite period. What prevented the House from deciding upon the Motion at once? Was it reasonable that a single Member should have it in his power, by merely mentioning that he noticed strangers in the House, to exclude, not only the occupants of the strangers' gallery, but of that other (the reporters') gallery, which was the most valuable part of the House—for without their assistance the public would be ignorant of the proceedings of the House? He believed that they (the reporters) gave most fair representations of what took place in the House; and considering the circumstances in which they were placed, the difficulty of hearing, and the rapidity with which many Members spoke—considering, too, the unconnected way in which many speeches in that House were delivered, it appeared to him to be almost a miracle that their proceedings were so accurately reported. The hon. and gallant Gentleman did not propose, by way of remedying the evil to which he had alluded, to take out of the hands of the House any power which might be useful in cases of emergency. All he proposed was, that no single Member should have it in his power to order every stranger out of the House any moment he pleased. Surely it was but fair that a Member, desiring to exclude strangers, should propose a Motion for exclusion, and have it seconded and put to the House. He thought there was no necessity for referring this matter to a Committee, or postponing its discussion in the House to some future occasion; let the sense of the House be taken upon it at once.
§ Motion negatived.