§ MR. HENEAGE (Great Grimsby)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether, in view of his declaration that the two questions of Land and Irish Government were closely and inseparably connected, and has since stated that
The position of the Government is simply this.… to establish by a vote on the Second Reading the principle of the Government of Ireland Bill,he can now inform the House whether the Government still regard the Land Bill as an essential portion of their policy, and the two Bills as still inseparable the one to the other; and, whether it is the intention of the Government to establish by a vote on the Second Reading the principle of the Land Purchase Bill?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. E. GLADSTONE) (Edinburgh, Mid Lothian)With regard to the first portion of his Question, I am not able to give any answer to my right hon. Friend beyond what I gave to an hon. Gentleman opposite three or four days ago—that is to say, 506 I have no new declaration to make on the subject of the relation existing between the Government of Ireland Bill and the Land Purchase Bill. With respect to the second portion of the Question, I can give an answer to my right hon. Friend. I do not think that the Government could ask the House to pass any judgment upon the Land Purchase Bill, excepting at a time when what I may call the principal Bill is on the Orders of the Day with a view to its prompt or immediate prosecution through its stages. That being so, it is not our intention to ask for any vote upon the Land Purchase Bill after the determination of the House has been given upon the second reading of the Government of Ireland Bill. I may say that I think when the first Question was put to me as to the Government of Ireland what I announced was that we did not intend to take any proceedings upon the Bill or on the subject after the second reading.