HC Deb 23 March 1882 vol 267 cc1669-70
MR. LEWIS

I rise to a point of Order, Sir. It arises upon the Votes which were published upon Tuesday, the 21st March. It is necessary that I should remind the House in one or two words of what occurred on that occasion. It will be in the recollection of the House that during the time when Her Majesty's gracious Address was being read, I called attention to the fact that a right hon. Gentleman, sitting on the Treasury Bench, had sat with his head uncovered; and you, Sir, in answer to a Question put to you, said that it was not only the practice of this House for every Member to be uncovered whilst the Message was being read, but for an entry to be made in the Votes of the House stating the fact. I may say that I alluded to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. John Bright), and not to the President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Chamberlain), to whom I am happy to do this act of justice by stating the fact. Notwithstanding that I drew attention to the circumstance, I find this entry in the Votes— 48. Duke of Albany.—Message from Her Majesty, brought up and read by Mr. Speaker, all the Members being uncovered. I should have taken no notice of the fact if the statement had not been intensified by the word "all." As a matter of fact, three other Members were covered—the hon. Member for Ipswich (Mr. Collings), the hon. Member for Leicester (Mr. P. A. Taylor), the hon. Member for Falkirk (Mr. Ramsay), and also, I believe, the hon. Member for Stockton (Mr. Dodds). [Murmurs.]

MR. DODDS

I rise to Order, Sir. There is no foundation whatever for the statement. I was not in the House at the time.

MR. LEWIS

Sir, I venture to suggest that if there is any necessity whatever that the entry should be made seriously, and as a matter of course, and of propriety, upon the Votes of the House, it ought, at least, to correspond with the fact; and although it did not correspond with the fact, if——

SIR WILFRID LAWSON

I rise to Order. I wish to know whether the hon. Member is justified in bringing forward this question of hats without Notice?

MR. LEWIS

I am myself speaking to a point of Order.

MR. SPEAKER

The hon. Member is calling attention to an entry in the Votes, and in so doing I apprehend that the hon. Member is quite in Order.

MR. LEWIS

I venture to put a Question to you, Sir, in these terms, and I do so most respectfully—Whether you can cause the necessary amendment to be made in the Votes and Journals of the House relating to the reading of the Royal Message on Tuesday, the 21st March, so as to make such entry correspond more nearly with the exact facts; if so, whether it would be in Order for me to make a Motion to that effect; and, if not, whether any course could be taken so as to make such entry correspond with the facts? I am all the more glad to take this course, because it will give the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster another opportunity of making a statement to the House if he should think fit to do so.

MR. O'DONNELL

Upon a question of Order, Sir, I wish to ask whether it is not an ancient and well-known custom that religious feelings and convictions are respected in this House, and that the convictions of the respected Society of Friends ought not, under cover of a Motion of this sort, to be offended and assailed?

MR. SPEAKER

In answer to the inquiry of the hon. Member for Londonderry (Mr. Lewis), I have to gay that the entry is made in the Votes in the usual course, and under the assumption that if any hon. Member did not uncover, it was an inadvertence on his part. I am net prepared to indicate to the hon. Member any course that he can take.