§ MR. BAILLIE COCHRANEI beg, Sir, to ask your opinion upon a question of Order. I placed a Notice of a Question upon the Paper which I find has been so altered by the Clerk as to remove all meaning and justification of the interrogation I desire to put. As it is printed, the Question stands thus—To ask the Secretary of State for War, If it is in contemplation to purchase additional accommodation for the War Department in Pall Mall, or if it is intended to erect a suitable edifice for the concentration of the War Department? Now, as I wrote out the Question, I distinctly stated that I wished to know whether it was the intention of the Government to perpetuate a state of things, in the shape of office accommodation, which the War Secretary himself had acknowledged to be most inconvenient. I wish, Sir, to know whether it is in accordance with precedent that Notices of Questions should be thus altered?
§ MR. SPEAKEROne of the established Rules of the House with reference to Questions is that no argumentative matter should be introduced; and, if such matter appears, it is always by my authority struck out of the Question. It is on this ground, and on this ground only, that the Question of the hon. Member has been altered.
§ MR. BAILLIE COCHRANEIn that case, Sir, I beg to put the Question in the shape in which it appears on the Notice Paper.
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN,in reply, said, that a Bill providing for the erection of buildings suitable for the concentration of the various branches of the War Office was introduced early this Session, but that it had not been proceeded with. It was still the intention of the Government to erect such a building as that specified in the Bill; but in the meantime, any additional accommodation which might be required would be obtained by hiring, and it was not intended to purchase any additional accommodation in Pall Mall.