§ MR. NEWDEGATESir, I beg to put a Question to the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department of which I have given him private notice. I have to-day presented 1543 a Petition from a meeting in St. James's Hall, at which I and other hon. Members of this House were present. That meeting was convened for the purpose of considering the effect of the action of Her Majesty' s Government through the Home Secretary, and the action of certain civic authorities on the right of free assembly and free discussion of lawful topics. I will not now detain the House by going into this subject; indeed, that would be unfair on my part in the absence of the other hon. Members who were present at that meeting, but who are not now in their places. I will therefore merely advert to the fact that in the case which has arisen in Birmingham, where Mr. Murphy was arrested without any information, and, I believe, contrary to law, an action of false imprisonment is intended against the Mayor of Birmingham; but it is impossible that that action can come on until after the Recess. Now, Sir, considering, as my hon. Friends consider, that the present state of things is highly unsatisfactory, with the law in a great measure confined in its application by what has occurred, I wish, to give notice that I intend to call the attention of the House to the circumstances which have arisen in connection with this subject of the right of free assembly and free discussion, and I beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman, Whether on the part of the Government he will afford me any facility for bringing forward that Motion?
MR. BRUCEsaid, he had already given a private answer to the hon. Member's private communication, to the effect that, although Her Majesty's Government would at all times be ready to meet any charge that might be made against them with respect to the measures they had taken to prevent the dangers they believed likely to arise from the proceedings of the lecturer Murphy, the pressure of Public Business was such that out of the very limited portion of time that remained at their disposal they did not feel at liberty to grant any special facilities to the hon. Member to bring this subject forward on a future occasion. The hon. Member would, however, find no difficulty, as an independent Member, on an occasion similar to the present, in bringing forward any Motion he might think fit upon this subject, which after all did not appear to him to be of very pressing importance.