§ SIR H. WILLOUGHBYwished to put a question to the noble Lord the Member for Bath respecting the accuracy of a statement which had been attributed to him in the newspapers, as to the right of the people to petition the House of Commons. The noble Lord was reported to have said, at a public meeting—
That he had, on the previous night, presented a petition which he had received from his constituents at Bath, stating, that they viewed the budget with surprise and regret. He was called to order by the Speaker, and was told that the people of England had no right to express surprise and regret at anything done in the House of Commons.
VISCOUNT DUNCANI have to thank my hon. Friend for having had the courtesy to give notice of the question he has just put. I willingly bear testimony to the general accuracy and fidelity with which speeches are reported—both those which are made in, as well as out of, the House of Commons, considering the great noise and confusion which often occur while hon. Members are speaking. But the words which I made use of at the meeting, to the best of my recollection, were these. I said that—
I was called to order by the Speaker, and was told that the people of England had no right to express surprise or regret upon any matter mentioned in debate in the House of Commons, and which could only reach them through the reports in the journals, unauthorised by the House.I made this explanation to the meeting in consequence of having received so many-petitions all similarly worded, and all expressing extreme surprise and regret at the financial statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.