HC Deb 17 March 1864 vol 174 cc189-90
SIR HENRY STRACEY

Sir, I have placed a Notice on the paper to move— That the statement of the Procureur Général, implicating a Member of this House of Commons and of her Majesty's Government in the plot for the assassination of our ally the Emperor of the French, deserves the serious consideration of the House. I wish to ask the noble Lord at the head of the Government, Whether he will allow this Notice to take precedence of the other Notices?

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

I have no power over the order of business in the House.

SIR HENRY STRACEY

I did not hear the noble Lord's answer to my Question; will he be good enough to repeat it?

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

The hon. Baronet asked me if I would consent to his Notice having precedence of the other Notices; and I answered that I had no command over the business of the House, It is for the House itself to say, whether or not it will give precedence to the Motion of the hon. Baronet.

MR. DISRAELI

I do not wish, Sir, to give any opinion on the propriety or impropriety of the suggestion of the hon. Baronet, but I do wish to vindicate the privileges of the individual whose duty it is to lead the business of this House; and I must say that I do not understand how the noble Lord on a Government night has not the power of arranging the order of business. I should like to understand from the noble Lord, whether he has abdicated and given up that privilege which hitherto the leader of this House has been supposed to possess of arranging on Government nights the order of business.

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

The Notice given was of a Motion on going into Committee of Supply, and I do not myself see any reason for disturbing that arrangement.

MR. DISRAELI

I merely desire to say, in my own justification for rising, that while I admit that the noble Lord may be the best judge as to what is the best course for proceeding with the business of the House, yet I understood him in his explanation to state that he had no power of arranging the order of business on a Government night.

SIR HENRY STRACEY

said, he would move that the Orders of the Day be postponed until after his Motion.

MR. SPEAKER

That will not be the proper course for the hon. Member to take. If the hon. Member could claim the ground of Privilege, that would give his Question precedence without postponing the Orders of the Day. It is for the House to say whether this is a question of Privilege of that nature which should take precedence over all the other business. The hon. Member did me the favour of speaking to me in private on this point. A matter of Privilege which claims this precedence should be some subject which has recently arisen, and which clearly involves the privileges of this House and calls for its immediate interposition. I stated to the hon. Baronet that as this subject has already been twice under the notice of the House—as questions have been asked twice in this House upon it—it did not appear to me to come under the character of something which had recently arisen, and required the immediate interposition of the House without notice. I therefore told the hon. Gentleman that in my opinion the course which he proposed to himself of raising any question which he might deem fitting upon it on going into Committee of Supply was the right course for him to follow. It is for the House to decide whether it thinks, under the circumstances, that is the proper course to be pursued. The House has the power of directing the course which it may think right in this case.

VISCOUNT PALMERSTON

I would offer a suggestion, Sir, which may, perhaps, meet the views of all parties—namely, that after my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Bill on Government Annuities, the Penal Servitude Bill should be postponed, to give the hon. Baronet the opportunity he desires.