STATEMENT. (Hansard, 1 March 1883)

§ MR. LYON PLAYFAIR
Sir, the indifferent state of my health for the last few months obliges me to resign the Office which I have the honour to hold as Chairman of Ways and Means. I am sure the House will allow mo to take this opportunity of expressing my deep sense of gratitude for the support I have received, not only from the House, but also from you, Sir, in the discharge of my duties. Those duties for the last two years have been very onerous, and sometimes difficult; and feeling, as I do, deeply my own imperfections in the discharge of my duties, I am the more grateful for the indulgence and support which I received from both sides of the House. I may also express my heartfelt thanks to those private Members who have given me so much valuable aid in discharging those duties devolving upon mo in the Court of Locus Standi, and in the Committee on Private Bills. Without that aid, it would have been perfectly impossible for the Chairman of Ways and Means to exercise that supervision over Private Bill legislation which the House imposes upon him. It often happens that Public Bills of a contentious character require much amendment; so that the whole time of the Chairman is taken up in the consideration of those Amendments, in order to bring the Bill into a proper state for the consideration of the Committee; and without such aid as I have referred to from private Members, it would be inevitable that he should neglect some part of those duties. But he has another inestimable advantage, and that is the constant and able co-operation of the experienced Officers of the House. I am sure the House will allow 1248 me to express, for the last time I can address the House in this Office, my sincere thanks for the generous and extensive support I have received in the discharge of my duties. I beg, Sir, to place my resignation in the hands of the House.

THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON
Sir, I am sure that the House will agree with mo in expressing our sense of great regret at the decision which my right hon. Friend has just announced. On several occasions during the last few years it has been pointed out to the House how greatly has the importance and responsibility of the duties of the Chairman of Ways and Means of late increased; and not only is that so, but the onerous character of the Office, and the tax which it imposes upon the Gentleman who fills it, have increased also. Certainly, the period during which my right hon. Friend has performed the duties of the Office has been one in which its difficulties and labours have been greater and far heavier than in any previous Sessions. My right hon. Friend has had to preside over the deliberations of the Committee of the Whole House in the consideration of measures at once of great intricacy, and which it was thought desirable to consider in very great detail; and some of those measures, during the discussion of which in Committee it has been the lot of the right hon. Gentleman to preside, have been such as to cause very considerable excitement and strong differences of opinion. I would not desire, on the present occasion, to hint at any of the causes which have made the tenure of Office by my right hon. Friend more difficult and arduous than in the case of his Predecessors. Under the circumstances which my right hon. Friend had to deal with, I believe it would have been impossible that any man should have performed the duties of the Office without having occasionally given rise to cavil and animadversion; but I am sure we shall all feel that during his tenure of Office, whether we have had any difference with him on a particular occasion or not, my right hon. Friend has endeavoured to discharge, and has, on the whole, succeeded in discharging, his most difficult duties with great impartiality, and with an earnest desire to promote the dignity of our proceedings in Committee. On the part of the House, 1249 I feel, therefore, entitled to convey to my right hon. Friend our sense of regret at his resignation, and our thanks for the assistance rendered us during so many years.

§ MR. SCLATER-BOOTH
said, he ventured to say, on the part of his right hon. and hon. Friends near him, that they entirely reciprocated the observations that had fallen from the noble Marquess and from the right hon. Gentleman the late Chairman of Ways and Means. Nobody could have watched the career of the right hon. Gentleman, without feeling that he had taken great pains in the extremely difficult position in which he was placed, and that he not only desired and endeavoured to do his duty, but succeeded in carrying that desire into effect. Moreover, his labours in his private room had been of the greatest advantage to all who stood in need of his advice and assistance. He was quite sure that the Leader of the Opposition would have been present had he known that this incident was about to take place.

§ MR. H. S. NORTHCOTE
said, the right hon. Gentleman the Member for North Devon (Sir Stafford Northcote) was not aware that this announcement would be made that night, or he would have been in his place. The right hon. Gentleman had told him, in private conversation, that he was most anxious to be present when the announcement was made, in order that he might bear his testimony of respect to the right hon. Gentleman the late Chairman of Ways and Means (Mr. Lyon Playfair).

THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON
said, that during the discussion on the Procedure Resolutions, a general opinion was expressed in the House, and assented to, he thought, by his right hon. Friend at the head of the Government, that the appointment of the Chairman of Committee of Ways and Means should be made in a somewhat more formal manner, and with the general knowledge and assent of the House. He did not think it was necessary that they should create any new precedent in the matter. It was desirable to follow, as far as possible, the Forms of the House, and therefore he did not propose that the House should take any new course in the matter. He wished, in order that the appointment of the Successor of his right hon. Friend (Mr. Lyon Playfair) might 1250 be made with the full knowledge of the House, to give Notice that to-morrow, on the Motion to go into Supply, he would move that Sir Arthur Otway take the Chair.