§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERmoved—
That the Order of the Day for the Committee of Supply be postponed until after the Order of the Day for resuming the Adjourned Debate on the Eastern Question.
§ MR. E. JENKINSrose to appeal to the Government for an understanding that the debate should not be concluded that evening. He had, from a certain quarter of that House, that morning received a "Whip" informing him that there would to-night be a certain division; which showed that there were some hon. Gentlemen gifted with a prescience which was extraordinary and supernatural. He knew that there were still a large number of hon. Members on that (the Opposition) side of the House, many of whom agreed with the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Greenwich, and who desired to have an opportunity of expressing their opinions. For himself, he had been during the whole of last evening engaged in a series of calisthenic exercises with the vain object of catching the Speaker's eye. He was only a humble Member of that House, but he had a 729 constituency, and they expected that he should endeavour to discharge his duty to them; there were others in the same position, and as they had had no opportunity of offering an opinion on the subject, he felt he was entitled to ask the Government and hon. Members not to interpose any obstacle to the free expression of opinion. His appeal to the Government gathered strength from the fact that a certain colour had been given to the debate by the many hon. Members who did not agree with the Resolutions, and a number of hon. Members who opinions were entitled to respect were desirous of expressing their opinions in a contrary sense to the colour which had been imparted to the debate. More than all, when last night they were obliged to sit there while insults were offered to the Sovereign of a great State with which at present we were in amity, and his name and assurances were treated with derisive cheers from the opposite side of the House, there was good reason why a number of hon. Members on that side sbeuld have an opportunity of vindicating the public opinion of this country. He appealed to the Government that the discussion should not be concluded that night, and that the right hon. Member for Greenwich should have an opportunity to sum up that great debate on Monday or Tuesday at an earlier beur than he could otherwise get.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERWhatever else may be done, I hope one thing, at all events, and that is that we shall not spend any great portion of the time we have at our disposal for discussion this evening, by getting into a debate as to when the division is to take place. I can assure hon. Gentleroen, far as the Government are concerned, we have been most anxious to give as much facility as possible for hon. Members to speak in this debate. On the previous evening, no Member of the Government had risen to address the House; and on the present occasion, my hon. Friend (Mr. Bourke) wbe represents the Foreign Department in this House will feel it his duty to address some observations, yet no other Members of the Government, except myself propose to trespass on the time of the House. I most earnestly press upon the House the importance of endeavouring to bring this debate to a close tonight. We are perfectly ready to sit to 730 a later hour than usual, in order to hear speeches which hon. Gentlemen are anxious to deliver, and we are under an obligation to the hon. Member for the Border Burghs (Mr. Trevelyan), who has given us the night in order that it may be made use of to the best possible advantage. I hope, therefore, we shall be supported by the House in endeavouring to bring the question to an issue to-night.
§ MR. WALTERwished to make a practical suggestion to the House at large, as well as to its Leaders on either side. He had always been of opinion that speeches in the House were a great deal too long. He was himself, on the present occasion, somewhat in the position of hon. Gentlemen behind him, for he, too, had wished to make some remarks upon the matter before the House, and had been unable to get an opportunity for so doing. He would, therefore, appeal to the good feeling of those hon. Gentlemen who in the course of the evening might, so to speak, get upon their horses, that they should not indulge in an unlimited gallop over the whole pasture which lay before them; and, to use another illustration, he would suggest that hon. Members, being in the position of a ship's crew who were running short of provisions, would do well to put themselves on half commons.
§ MR. ANDERSONsaid, what he and other hon. Members complained of was that the debate had not taken a fair direction, and that, whether by intention or by accident, the debate had taken such a turn and gone in such a direction that it would go to the country so as to show that the right hon. Member for Greenwich had only for his four Resolutions an extremely small following in that House, which was a false impression. As he (Mr. Anderson) had pointed out last evening, only two hon. Members who supported the Resolutions and were known to be warm supporters of them had been called upon in the whole of the three evenings, and he complained of that as unfair, whether it had been intended or not. It was perfectly well known that the following which the right hon. Gentleman would have, even if there had not been any attempt at "patching up," would have been a very large one, and it was unfair that the country should have been led to believe that it would only be a very weak one.
MR. GLADSTONEthought no one could complain of what was said by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was naturally anxious to bring the debate to a close. They were all aware that everything that could be done to accommodate the House and all its Members by an impartial choice was done by the Speaker, although no doubt it was impossible for that right hon. Gentleman, remarkable as his gifts might be, to judge from the personal appearance of the Member alone what line he intended to take. He (Mr. Gladstone) hoped there was no absolutely foregone conclusion as to the closing of the debate, but by all means let them proceed, and make the best of the time they had at their disposal. It did not become him to recommend short speeches after the extent to which he had trespassed upon the House on Monday evening last; but he ventured to say that this was probably the very largest question of foreign policy, and one having the greatest amount and range of topics, that had ever been before the House. He was sure there would be no disposition of hon. Members, for mere egotism's sake, to intrude themselves upon the House. At the same time, he was bound to say there were several Gentlemen, well qualified and entitled by their position to address the House, who had not yet been called upon, and who ought to find an opportunity to do so, and therefore he hoped a fair discretion would be exercised by Her Majesty's Government.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONhoped the House would at once enter upon the debate, with a desire of, if possible, concluding it in' the course of the present sitting. At the same time, he beped it would not be a foregone conclusion that it must necessarily so conclude in any circumstances. There were several hon. Gentlemen on that bench who had been anxious to address the House, and it was due to his hon. and learned Friend the Member for Oxford (Sir William Harcourt) and his right hon. Friend the Member for the City of London (Mr. Goschen)—as there was an inclination to take credit for the making of sacrifices—to say that though they desired to speak on the question, they would be willing to forego their respective opportunities of so doing.
Motion agreed to.