§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask the right hon. Member for the Watford Division, as Chairman of the Committee of Selection, if he is now prepared to state in how many cases during the last and preceding years Members asked to be excused serving on Private Bill Committees on the ground of private profession, business, or avocation; and in how many such cases they were excused; whether, when so excused, it was on the general ground of the peculiar nature of the Member's profession, or of special inconvenience that would be caused at the particular time when the name was placed on the Panel; and if he can say 1226 how many hon. Members belonging to the so-called learned professions in active practice, served on Private Bill Committees in 1901 and 1902 respectively.
§ *MR. HALSEY (Hertfordshire, Watford)I can only give the same answer that I gave to a similar Question on a previous occasion. I am unable to state the number of cases, but each application was most carefully considered on its own merits by the Committee of Selection. The object of the Committee is, and always has been, to select those Members best qualified, in their judgment, for the work of each Committee, and at the same time to carry out their duties with as little inconvenience as possible to individual Members.