MESSAGE OF THE QUEEN— THE MARRIAGE OF H. R. H. THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT.

§ MR. P. A. TAYLOR
Sir, it may, perhaps, meet the convenience of the House if I should now state that, acting under the advice and by the request of most of those hon. Members with whom I have acted in opposing these Royal Grants, I do not propose to carry further the opposition of which I have given Notice on the Second Reading of the Bill relating to the marriage of the Duke of Connaught. I think, however, I am justified in saying that those who oppose this Grant have some reason to complain of the conduct of the Government in their management of the matter. For instance, we heard nothing of it until the close of the Session. It is then hurried through, without any opportunity for discussion whatever, and from the first moment until the third reading, probably not more than a week will elapse. It is never proper to insinuate motives, and it has never been my habit to do so; but it looks exceedingly like an attempt to prevent the people of this country from expressing their opinion. Any amount of opposition, any amount of indignation or of feeling expressed by the people—and there is such a feeling— 394 will come only like the distant rumbling of the thunder long after the lightning bolt has fallen. It is quite clear the people outside have no opportunity of speaking; their Friends in the House have spoken; and, therefore, I am disposed to be content with the discussion that has taken place, and the vote that has been given, being quite sure that it is impossible for the people outside the House to reinforce the opposition inside. I may, in conclusion, venture to say to the Government, that although discussion has closed in this House, they probably have not heard the last of it. The matter will be discussed throughout the country; and in the course of the not far distant General Election, many an hon. Member, when he appears on the hustings, will be asked this question—"Did you vote for wasting the people's money?"

§ MR. MACDONALD
Sir, it was my intention to have supported the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. P. A. Taylor) in his Motion for rejecting this Vote. I, therefore, did not take any part in the discussion which took place last evening; and I wish now to say that the action of the hon. Member for Leicester will not guide me in the course I may take tomorrow. If I take the course of dividing the House, it is not from any feeling of disloyalty to the reigning Family that I do so. I look on those large and frequently repeated Grants as one of the principal causes that are sapping the loyal feeling of thousands, nay of millions of people, towards the reigning house. ["Oh, oh!"] Hon. Gentlemen call out "Oh!" They speak of their experience. I have a right to speak of mine. They speak the opinions of the narrow circles in which they move and the drawing-rooms into which they enter. Some time ago an enormous Petition was presented by the hon. Member for Morpeth (Mr. Burt) and myself against these Royal Grants. I shall only say, in conclusion, that I feel bound, notwithstanding the course the hon. Member for Leicester has taken, to divide the House, as a further protest on a question that is of vital importance to this country, to the great body of our people who are now suffering from "cleanness of teeth'' in the great manufacturing districts.

§ MR. FAWCETT
Sir, as one who has acted on this question with the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. P. A. Taylor), 395 I trust the House will allow me to express my opinion that my hon. Friend has arrived at a very wise and judicious decision not to press his opposition further on the present occasion. No one who knows him, either in this House or in the country, will for one moment consider that he would ever shrink, from motives of fear, from carrying his opposition to its legitimate conclusion. No one has more the courage of his opinions than he has; but I think that, under the circumstances, my hon. Friend has acted most wisely in resting satisfied with the protest that was made yesterday. The debate which then occurred was ably and temperately conducted on both sides; and however much those who were in the majority disagreed with the minority, I believe they will accept an assurance that we were actuated solely by principle, and were free from any feeling of personal hostility towards the Prince or towards any hon. Member who voted with the majority. It is not for me to use words of compliment; but I can assure the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the House that I believe every one of the 33 Members who voted yesterday most heartily and sincerely reciprocates every good wish and congratulation he used towards the Prince. I think the hon. Member for Leicester is right in withdrawing further opposition under the circumstances; because, as the second reading of the Bill is to be taken on Monday, he would place himself in a wrong position by interposing between the important debate which is to commence on that day and the subject of this grant. He made his protest yesterday, and we then had a fair opportunity of voting against this Grant. I repeat, that he has acted most wisely and judiciously; and I hope my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Macdonald) will be satisfied with the protest he has just made, and will not separate himself from those with whom he usually acts by again troubling the House with a division.

§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
Sir, it is not for me to say what course those who object to the Vote should take with regard to the Bill. That I leave to them to settle among themselves; but I must say one word of protest against what has been said by the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. P. A. Taylor), as to there being anything in the nature of hurry or surprise in the pass- 396 ing of the Bill. What has been done in this case is that which has been done uniformly during the present Reign on several occasions; and there could not be the least doubt that the course which has been followed on the occasion of other Royal Marriages would be taken with respect to this marriage. I think I may venture to point to the Petition to which the hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Macdonald) referred, as showing that the minds of those who take his view of the subject were alive to this question; but I must protest against the idea that any attempt was made to bring this matter forward at an inconvenient or improper time. It was brought forward at the proper time. It could not be done until Her Majesty had given her consent to the marriage; and it could not be brought forward in the other House in the absence of the Prime Minister. I must also enter my protest, in the most general terms, against its being assumed that those who thought it right to vote against the Grant are in any sense greater friends of the people than those who proposed it. There has been nothing done that has not been done from a sense of public duty and the responsibility the Government owe to the people of this country.

MESSAGE OF THE QUEEN— THE MARRIAGE OF H. R. H. THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT.—REPORT.