§ MR. CHARLES LEWISasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether it is his intention to take any step with reference to the Special Report of the Select Committee on Foreign Loans presented to this House on the 19th instant?
§ MR. DISRAELIMr. Speaker, I reluctantly voted the other night for the Motion of the hon. and learned Member for Londonderry, the information which I thought the House required not being supplied by a Member of the Committee. I did not assent to the Motion as a punishment to the printers of the newspapers—I disclaimed that at the time. Since then, the House has had recourse to another mode of obtaining the information; and I think we can hardly regret what has passed, because in future, when the House finds itself in a similar perplexing position, it will know that it has a right to apply to the Committee, whose conduct I will not say may be questioned, but involved in the discussion, to obtain the information which it can furnish. Since we have obtained that information, the House possesses all the knowledge on the particular point it desires. It knows, for instance, that the document in question was read as part of the proceedings in Committee, and that the newspapers obtained it by application to the Chairman. I have, therefore, no intention myself of making any Motion on the Report of the Committee. I can only say for the guidance of any Gentleman who may have, that, as far as my experience can guide me, no question of Privilege was involved in the presentation of that Report; and, therefore, if I had any intention, I could only put my name down on the Paper in order, and the Motion would probably come on in about two months.