SUPPLY.—REPORT. (Hansard, 28 April 1885)

§ MR. SEXTON
said, that amongst the questions raised on this Vote in Committee there was one which he had stated that he should have to refer to again on the Report. On examining the details of the Vote, he had been surprised to find that, while a residence for the senior Clerk of the House was provided, the second Clerk was without that accommodation. It appeared to him that the second Clerk of the House required such accommodation as much as the senior Clerk, inasmuch as he had quite as long hours and as much work to get through; indeed, as far as his experience went, he had rather more. It had been pointed out that one officer of the House of Lords had 16 rooms at his disposal. For those reasons, he asked the hon. Gentleman the Secretary to the Treasury if he could hold out any hope that the gentleman he alluded to would be furnished with a residence?

§ MR. HIBBERT
said, that unfortunately there was but too little space for the Business that had to be performed in respect of the House of Commons. With respect to the question raised to-night on that Vote by the hon. Member for Sligo (Mr. Sexton), he had stated in Committee that the accommodation that had been referred to in the case of Clerks of the House would be a matter to be considered by those who had to deal with those questions. He wished, in reply to a question put to him yester-day, on the subject of the accommodation required by Members and their secretaries, the latter having been turned out of the Tea Room, in consequence of the new arrangements made by Mr. Speaker at the commencement of the Session, to state that he was desired by Mr. Speaker to say that he was desirous of providing, if possible, accommodation of the kind asked for, and that he was in communication with the authorities of the House of Lords with the object of obtaining suitable rooms to be used for the purpose indicated. Mr. Speaker would also consider whether tables and other appliances for writing should not be placed in the 1031 Central Lobby as requested, or in some other convenient position.

§ MR. SEXTON
said, he could assure the hon. Gentleman that Members would be generally obliged by the steps that bad been taken.

§ MR. T. P. O'CONNOR
said, he had drawn the attention of the hon. Gentleman the Secretary to the Treasury to a matter that he hoped would not be lost sight of—namely, the difficulty of intercommunication between the different parts of the House, which was a source of considerable inconvenience to Members. He had stated before that it was easier to learn in a newspaper office in Fleet Street what was going on in the House of Commons than in the Smoking Room, or any other department of the House. He had learned privately and with great satisfaction that some steps had been taken in regard to that matter, and he trusted that the inconvenience referred to would be as soon as possible removed. There was another point to which he would ask the attention of the Secretary to the Treasury, by whom he hoped it would be brought before the authorities of the House. He believed his hon. Friend the Member for Northampton (Mr. Labouchere) had mentioned it on one occasion; and he would now ask the hon. Gentleman whether, in the accommodation now being provided for writing purposes for Members, he would endeavour to see his way to placing typewriters at their disposal? Now, many hon. Members were obliged to do a great deal of writing, and some of them were in the habit of using those machines, and the habit made it rather laborious to write in the usual way. He understood that when this subject was brought forward on a previous occasion, a promise had been given by the Secretary to the Treasury that it should be considered. He trusted the hon. Gentleman would take the matter seriously into consideration, because there were five or six Members of the House of Commons who had a very large amount of writing to get through, for whom these type-writers would effect a considerable saving of time.

§ MR. HIBBERT
The matter shall be brought before the proper authorities.