§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was to be the course of Business. In consequence of the "Count-out" yesterday there were now 13 Government Orders on the Paper, which was an arrangement which would not have been made had not the House fallen through last night. He wished to know which of these Orders it was intended to take, and how long it was proposed to keep the House sitting to-day?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, that the Government did not mean to make any attempt to pass any of the Orders beyond the first six.
§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEWill none of the others be proceeded with?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTsaid, that would depend on the desire of the House to transact Business. The information that the Government had was that most of the Orders were Orders which would not occupy a considerable time, and to which there would be no protracted opposition. He should hope that the Local Government Board (Scotland) Bill, so far as the second reading was concerned, would not occupy much further time. As to the Scotch Agricultural Holdings Bill, there were not many Amendments to be considered, and he was told yesterday that there would not be any opposition to the Report on the Patents for Inventions Bill, and certainly not as regarded the Diseases Prevention (Metropolis) Bill. He hoped these measures would be disposed of by a reasonable time, so that the House would not be kept sitting to a late hour.
§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, there was an understanding last Session, when they had Saturday Sittings, that the House should not be kept sitting to an unusually late hour, beyond 6 or 7 o'clock. He presumed they might anticipate a similar arrangement to-day, and that the Government, on passing the last of the Orders they meant to press, would move the adjournment of the House themselves.
§ MR T. P. O'CONNORsaid, he yesterday made an appeal to the Prime Minister to exempt from the operation of his pledge the Labourers' (Ireland) Bill, the reasons he had submitted being—first, that the measure had passed a second reading without opposition; and, secondly, that the Government, raising no objection to the Bill, had wished to have some Amendments put in it, which Amendments, to the extent of a page and a-half, they had placed on the Paper and he had accepted. The Bill, therefore, though it was in his name, was practically a Government measure. In addition to this, the Amendments which had been laid on the Table by the late Attorney General for Ireland (Mr. Gibson) had, he believed, been accepted. He wished to know whether the Government had any objection to the Bill being taken to-day if that course were assented to by the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition?
§ MR ANDERSONasked, whether it did not rest with the House, when an Order of this kind was called, to decide whether or not it was to be gone on with? No pledge could be properly given after what had already occurred.
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTsaid, no pledge was given yesterday on this matter. The Prime Minister had asked for a Saturday Sitting only for the purpose of making progress with Government Bills. he (Sir William Harcourt) had nothing to add to what the right hon. Gentleman had said yesterday. With reference to what had fallen from the Leader of the Opposition as to naming an hour for the adjournment, it was obvious that there was a danger in doing that, as Gentlemen might speak with an eye upon the clock. It was not the desire of the Government to keep the House sitting to a late hour.
§ MR. TOMLINSONsaid, the right hon. and learned Gentleman seemed to think that the Patents for Inventions Bill would pass without opposition. There was, however, a page and a-half of Amendments to it, and some of them were of a controversial character; therefore, he hoped the Government would reconsider their decision on this point.
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTsaid, he did not say that the Bill would pass without opposition, but that there would not be a great deal of opposition to it.
§ COLONEL KING-HARMANwished to to know whether the Government proposed to press on the fourth Order—the Union Officers' Superannuation (Ireland) Bill.
§ MR. TREVELYANsaid, they did.
§ MR T. P. O'CONNORsaid, he understood the right hon. and learned Gentleman to imply that the Government had no objection to proceeding with the Bill he had mentioned to-day. Under the circumstances, he would ask whether the Leader of the Opposition would object to its being taken?
§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, he did not know that he had any right to answer the Question. As the hon. Member had appealed to him, however, all he had to say was that they could not make a distinction between one Bill and another. A Saturday Sitting entailed a considerable sacrifice on the part of the House, and it was only allowed on the understanding that nothing but Government Business should be taken.