§ MR. SAMUEL SMITHI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in view of the many recent cases of the House having been counted out on private Members' nights, the Government will take into consideration the expediency of proposing a change in the Standing Orders whereby the House, on such occasions, would be enabled to pass to the next business on the Paper instead of standing adjourned?
§ *THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. W. H. SMITH,) Strand, WestminsterThe counts out to which the hon. Member alludes were, I am afraid, attributable to a disinclination on the part of the House to take any further business, and I do not think the proposal of the hon. Member would be of any use in meeting such a state of things, nor, should an alteration of the Standing Orders of the House be lightly undertaken, even if it were possible to find the time for the necessary discussion.