§
Motion made and Question proposed—
That this House do now adjourn"(Sir W. H. Walrond.)
§ MR. JEFFREYS (Hampshire, N.)Mr. Speaker, Before the House adjourns may I ask my right honourable Friend the Vice-President of the Council whether he is aware that the Education Code, 625 which was laid on the Table on 6th March, was issued to Members only on 21st March; and that as the Code is only required to lie on the Table for 30 days before becoming law, there will be no opportunity of discussing it. as the time will have expired before the holidays are ended. There are one or two rules which bear hardly on certain schools, and I hope the right honourable Gentleman will promise that an opportunity for discussing these rules will be given.
§ THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION (Sir J. GORST,) Cambridge UniversityI understand I have no power in the matter at all. It is true that the Code was only in the hands of Members on 21st March, and I understand that the object of laying it on the Table for 30 days is to give honourable Members an opportunity of considering it and of raising any objection to it which they may think fit. I am rather of the opinion that it will be held by you, Sir, that the 30 days have not expired until the Code has been for that time effectively in the hands of Members.
§ MR. SPEAKERI do not understand whether the Code was laid on the Table in full on March 6, or only in dummy. I am informed that it was only laid in dummy.
§ VISCOUNT CRANBORNE (Rochester)I ask my right honourable Friend the question—When ho laid the Code on the Table, was it in full or in dummy?
§ SIR J. GORSTI am afraid I cannot answer now, but I will inquire before tomorrow.
§ VISCOUNT CRANBORNEMr. Speaker, I understand your ruling to be that if the Code is laid in dummy, the 30 days will run only from the time when the Code was effectively in the hands of Members. In these circumstances I appeal to my right honourable Friend to describe the precise nature of the operation which took place when he laid the Code on the Table, and to undertake, on behalf of the Government, that the House shall have ample time to discuss this very important matter. I hope the right honourable Gentleman will say that the Government will abide by the feeling of the House as to whether the Code is to become law within the 30 days from March 6.
§ MR. JEFFREYSI have made inquiries at the Bill Office, and am informed that the Code was not printed until March 21. Whether it was laid in dummy or in writing I do not know, but certainly it was not printed until March 21, and therefore could not be distributed before.
§ MR. SPEAKERI assume that it was laid on the Table in dummy only, for the practice is that when it is laid on the Table in full, orders are given for it to be printed and issued immediately. But the Statute only speaks of laying it upon the Table, which I take to mean "in full," so that anyone can consider it.
§ MR. JEFFREYSMy right honourable Friend the Vice-President of the Council has made no answer to the appeals which have been addressed to him, although, as things at present stand, the Code will, by the efflux of time, become law next week, and before there can be any opportunity of discussing it.
§ MR. SPEAKERIt is not for me to say any more on the subject. The thirty days commence from the day on which the Code itself was laid on the Table.
§ MR. H. S. FOSTER (Suffolk, Lowestoft)I hope my noble Friend will raise the question to-morrow on the Motion for the Adjournment, as there is a strong feeling on the question.