§ COLONEL HOWARD VINCENTI beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works if he has considered the bearing on recent scenes of disorder in the House of the over-crowded condition of the Benches, and the impossibility for Members of the various Parties to find sufficient accommodation among their own political friends; and if any plans are in preparation for remedying this evil during the Recess?
§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE,) Bradford, CentralI do not myself think that the incidents of last Thursday night were due to want of accommodation for Members in this House. So far as I was able to observe, the House was not overcrowded when they commenced, as a very large number of Members had aready gone into the Division Lobbies. I will, however, agree with the hon. Member that the very exceptional experience of this Session, as regards the crowding of this House, and of its Division Lobbies, and indeed of all the adjoining rooms, raises a very serious question; and next Session the Government, I doubt not, will assent to the appointment of a Committee on the subject, if the House should desire it.