HC Deb 03 June 1867 vol 187 cc1495-7
MR. NEWDEGATE

said, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer a Question, of which he had not been able to give him notice, respecting the appointment of the Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Act. The Notice on this subject had twice been dropped, and he had hoped that it would not be again brought forward; but he found that it was again on the Notice Paper, and he appealed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to exert his influence on the hon. Member for Meath (Mr. MacEvoy), not to press the subject. The right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Walpole) was absent and not likely to attend the Committee, and the Committee itself, as nominated, might be considered as packed, for it contained a majority of Members who were anxious for the repeal of the Act. That Act was confined to England and Scotland, and it was only late the other night that it had been treated as an Irish question. ["Order!"] He begged to move the adjournment of the House.

MR. SPEAKER

said, that the hon. Gentleman might ask the Question, but was not entitled to enter into the consideration of the construction of the Committee.

MR. NEWDEGATE

said, he would then ask, whether Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer would endeavour to induce the hon. Member for Meath not to proceed with his Motion?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

Sir, I have no further influence with the hon. Member for Meath than I have with every Member of this House, and which is the result of the courtesy which I trust will always subsist between me and every Member, I was not at all aware that the question on which the hon. Member for Meath has moved for a Committee was a question which interested only a portion of Her Majesty's dominions. I thought that for other reasons it was for the public advantage that a Select Committee should be granted on the subject. With regard to the Members of the Committee, the hon. Member for North Warwickshire will, I hope, do me the justice to remember that when he called my attention to the names, without giving any opinion as to whether they were competent to conduct the inquiry in a manner satisfactory to the House, upon my hon. Friend expressing a strong opinion that a responsible Member of the Government ought to be on the Committee, I assented to the suggestion and requested a Colleague in the Cabinet (Mr. Walpole) to be a member; and not only that, but the hon. Member having intimated that only one responsible Minister should be appointed, I also requested my right hon. and learned Friend, the Judge Advocate, to sit upon it. Therefore I think the hon. Member for North Warwickshire cannot charge me with any indifference to his wishes or any want of interest in the formation of that Committee. I think it would be admitted by all impartial persons that the addition of those two Ministers to the Committee will give it that additional weight of character which the hon. Member seemed to desire. I think that any communication from my right hon. Friend the Member for the University of Cambridge (Mr. Walpole) that he cannot attend the Committee cannot be of a date very recent, for he will leave Balmoral to-morrow, and on returning to town he will no doubt resume his duties, and will be prepared to discharge that part of his duty which refers to this Committee. I should think it great presumption on my part if I possessed any influence, which I do not, with the hon. Member for Meath to ask him to withdraw what he believes to be for the public advantage, and which Her Majesty's Government have assented to. Therefore, I think, matters must take their course. I think that when a Committee is moved for and the appointment of it has been assented to by the Government, the House will receive the Motion with its accustomed courtesy. Of course, I do not question the propriety of any hon. Member who may consider it improperly appointed challenging every name; but I hope that if that course is taken it will be taken with no sinister purpose of defeating the object of the Committee, but in order that the fair criticism which Parliamentary custom permits may result in the appointment of a Committee which shall command the confidence of the House.