ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. (Hansard, 22 April 1885)

§ SIR WILLIAM HART DYKE
said, he begged to move the adjournment of the House. He did so on the ground that the Registration Bills, which were understood to be the Business of the day, had been disposed of.

§ MR. CALLAN
expressed his surprise at a Motion of this kind being made at an early hour of the afternoon (3.25). He was also greatly surprised to find that the Motion was proposed by a prominent Member on the Front Opposition Bench. He did not think that tactics of this kind were at all seemly, because they gave the appearance of a desire to shirk the discussion of subjects intimately connected with Ireland. There were three questions on the Order Paper of great interest to Ireland—the appointment of a Select Committee on the industries of Ireland, the consideration of a Bill affecting barristers in Ireland, and a measure dealing with private lunatic asylums in that country. The Motion to appoint a Select Committee for the purpose of inquiring into the industries of Ireland had been upon the Paper for some time, and the hon. Member who had introduced it had obtained leave to bring it in on Wednesday. Now, when there was a fair chance of the Committee being appointed, and the Business portion of the day was over, an effort was made to prevent the Committee from being formed. On these grounds he objected to the Motion for Adjournment.

§ MR. HEALY
said, he thought that a Motion of this kind indicated a want of faith in the power of talk which had hitherto characterized hon. and right hon. Gentlemen of the Conservative Party. In regard to measures which 416 were looked upon with disfavour by the Tory Party, the practice had hitherto been to talk against time; but now different tactics were adopted. What was the reason of this falling-off in the powers of talk of hon. and right hon. Gentlemen? He had never known them on previous occasions to display so much powerlessness. He believed that the real motive of this Motion was to prevent his hon. Friend bringing forward his Bill admitting barristers to practise in Ireland without the necessity of their coming to England to eat their terms. Being Wednesday, a count could not be moved until 4 o'clock, and they did not wish to keep the Speaker in the Chair until that hour. The right hon. and learned Member for the University of Dublin (Mr. Gibson) occupied a very distinguished place at the Bar of Ireland; and he did not think that he would have been a party to moving the adjournment of the House when a Motion which so much concerned Irish Law students was upon the Paper. As private Members got so few opportunities of bringing forward legislation on Wednesdays, he appealed to the right hon. Baronet to withdraw his Motion until, at least, the Irish Business was disposed of.

§ MR. GIBSON
said, he believed that his right hon. Friend who moved the adjournment of the House did so, not because he had been prompted, but because he himself thought it right, and accordingly he had introduced the topic himself in his usual clear, precise way. The hon. and learned Member for Monaghan (Mr. Healy) said that the Conservative Party appeared to have "lost credulity in their powers of talk." That was a serious charge.

§ MR. HEALY
I said your own powers of talking.

§ MR. GIBSON
said that this was a more serious charge still; for to suggest gravely that an Irishman had lost faith in this power was to suggest that he had lost faith in the gifts of his race. He would not attempt to pursue the hon. Member in the various topics which had been introduced, and he did not feel inclined to discuss the various Bills which had been referred to. The next Bill which he saw on the Paper was one dealing with sporting lands in Scotland, which he did not know very much about. There was also a Bill about the River 417 Thames. One of the reasons why he supported the Motion for Adjournment was that on that day there had been a rush of Bills through the House. Some of them had been passed without any discussion, and some with only a few observations from hon. Members. Now, if Bills were to be rushed through in that way legislation would be reduced to an absurdity. With regard to the Bill of the hon. Member for Louth (Mr. Callan) for the admission of barristers, he might, of course, say that he knew something about it. The Benchers would, he believed, discuss the matter that day; and but for the lamentable death of the late Lord Chancellor (Sir Edward Sullivan), an eminent Irish Judge, he believed the matter would have been discussed some time ago. It was obvious that the matter was one for the calm consideration of those who were concerned in the administration of justice, and the government of the Bar and law students in Ireland. With regard to the other matter—the Motion for the appointment of a Select Committee upon Irish industries—that was a Motion upon which they were all agreed that there would be no difficulty whatever in the hon. Member bringing on the Motion to-morrow night or any other time.

MR. LYULPH STANLEY
hoped that the Motion for the adjournment of the House would be withdrawn. It would be vexatious to interfere with the discussion of the Bills of private Members.

§ SIR WILLIAM HART DYKE
disclaimed having made that Motion at the suggestion of his right hon. and learned Friend. He had done so simply on the broad ground of policy. They had met to discuss the two Registration Bills, and they having been disposed of they found themselves face to face unexpectedly with a number of private Members' Bills, and at the mercy of the Movers of these Bills. He would, however, be the last man to go against the general feeling of the House on such a matter.

§ MR. SPEAKER
asked whether the right hon. Baronet wished to withdraw his Motion?

§ SIR WILLIAM HART DYKE
Yes, Sir.