§ SIR WILFRID LAWSONsaid, that a paragraph had appeared in The Times that morning stating that a right hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. J. Lowther) intended on Tuesday week to move the Adjournment of the House until Thursday, and that the proposal had the tacit approval of the Leaders on both sides of the House. He wished to put a Question to the Prime Minister on this subject.
§ MR. SPEAKERI must point out that the Question which the hon. Mem- 531 ber desires to put does not relate to any Bill or Motion before the House.
§ SIR WILFRID LAWSONwished to know whether he might ask the Prime Minister whether he tacitly approved the proposal? [Cries of "No!"]
§ Subsequently,
§ SIR WILFEID LAWSONasked whether any Member of the Government intended to move the Adjournment of the House over the Derby Day?
MR. GLADSTONENo, Sir. That matter is one which, I am happy to say, has by custom passed over to the care and charge of independent Members, and there I hope it will always remain.
§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNORasked whether it was in Order for a Member, who was not a Member of the Government, to make a Motion for the adjournment of the House at half-past 4 o'clock? Two years ago he wished to move at half-past 4 that the Business of the House was not urgent, and the Speaker then ruled that it was not competent for private Members to move such a Motion at that hour.
§ MR. SPEAKERSuch Motions could not, as a general rule, be made by a Member not being a Member of the Government; but the occasion in question is exceptional, and I should not feel authorized to refuse to put a Motion of that kind, regard being had to the usual practice of the House on this particular question.
§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNORasked whether the right hon. Gentleman had not refused to recognize the practice since the last time when such a Motion was made by the hon. Member for Mid Lincolnshire (Mr. Chaplin)?
§ MR. SPEAKERMy course has been uniform in the matter. If the question of the hon. Member contemplates a Motion without Notice, I may add that the Motion could not be brought forward without Notice.
§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNORsaid, that when in the Session before last he consulted the right hon. Gentleman in the Chair, with regard to his right to put down a Notice of Motion for half-past 4, to the effect that the Business of the House was no longer urgent, the right hon. Gentleman then represented to him that it was not competent to a private Member to put such a Notice on the Paper, and when he (Mr. Arthur 532 O'Connor) brought to the right hon. Gentleman's notice the fact that it was a private Member who put the Notice on the Paper with regard to the Derby Day, the right hon. Gentleman said that the case of the Motion of the hon. Member for Mid Lincolnshire was not one which he could recognize as a precedent.
§ MR. SPEAKERThe Motion with regard to the Derby Day is, as I have already said, exceptional. It has been allowed for many years, by myself and my Predecessors in this Chair. Any Motion not relating to that matter could not be allowed.
§ SIR WILFRID LAWSONgave Notice that he should oppose any Motion for adjournment over the Derby Day.