§ COLONEL FRENCHsaid, there was an Order of the day in his name, which proposed the issuing of a new Writ for Gal- 285 way; but he was told that there was a Resolution of that House requiring 'two days' notice before moving for any Writ, and that his Motion could not come on until after the other orders of the day had been disposed of. He wished to ask Mr. Speaker if that was so?
§ MR. SPEAKERstated that the practice of the House on this point had been established of late years by so many precedents, that he had no hesitation in answering the question of the hon. Member. A question had been addressed by the hon. Member for Northamptonshire (Mr. Stafford), to the late Speaker, in reference to the issuing of a new Writ for the borough of Sligo. The question was, whether a Motion for the issuing of a new Writ was a matter of privilege, and so took precedence of all other business? The late Speaker entered into a full explanation, and showed that a Motion for issuing a Writ fell under the same rule as an ordinary notice of Motion. But beyond this, he had referred to the journals, and from them he found no less than eleven precedents existed as to the practice of the House, and he had therefore a very simple duty to perform, which was to state that the hon. Member was not entitled to take precedence of other business.