§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTONasked the Vice President of the Committee of Council, Whether, in consideration of the rule that the Education Code must lie upon the Table of the House for a period of forty days before it becomes Law (should no Address to the Crown be carried for its Amendment), and that the holidays are included in that period, and of the fact that there are now less than forty days before Easter, he will either defer its introduction till after the holidays or lay it upon the Table at once; whether he will take care that the Code shall be in the hands of Members on the day on which it is laid upon the Table; and, whether he will place in the hands of honourable Members the Department's instructions to their inspectors, as to the interpretation of the Code, at the same time?
§ MR. MUNDELLAI have no such option, as to the submission of the Code, as the hon. Gentleman seems to suppose. I am bound, under Article 136, "to lay it on the Table of both Houses within one calendar month from the meeting of Parliament," and I shall do so next week. The statute does not prescribe 40 days, but one month, as the period during which it must lie upon the Table. I will endeavour to arrange for the circulation of the Code as soon as possible after I have presented it. The instructions to Inspectors depend entirely upon the conditions of the Code, and they cannot he issued until the Code has received the sanction of Parliament.