§ MR. KEIR HARDIE (Merthyr Tydvil)said that on Thursday last he had a starred Question on the Order Paper, addressed to the First Lord of the Treasury, which was not reached by five minutes to three o'clock. He desired to hand it in to the Clerks at the Table for the following day, but was informed that this was not necessary, as it was customary to circulate the replies to the starred Questions which were not reached. No reply to the Question had reached him, however, either privately or with the Parliamentary Papers, and he desired to ask Mr. Speaker whether, under the Standing Order, such replies ought to be circulated.
§ * MR. SPEAKERIt certainly is the duty of any Minister whose Question is not reached to hand in his reply at the Table, so that it may be circulated with the Votes, if possible, the next morning, or, if not, the morning after.
§ MR. KEIR HARDIEAnd in the event of a Minister failing to do that, what remedy have we?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURsaid it was sometimes difficult for him to comply, as the Answers to Questions addressed to him were not written out. He therefore could not simply hand them in in the ordinary course to the newspapers. [An HON. MEMBER: To the clerk.] He 197 believed it was the practice, and in some respects he dared say it was a very good one, to make a double copy of the answers to Questions, one for the Press or the Clerks at the Table and the other for Members. But occasionally slips would occur, especially when Questions were exhausted, and the serious catechism began which he had to deal with from day to day, certainly with cheerfulness, and he hoped with patience. While he was not personally conscious of any lapse in the matter, he entirely admitted—providing the hon. Member's statement of fact was correct, and he did not doubt it for one moment—that he was in the wrong.
§ MR. KEIR HARDIEsaid he would put the Question to-morrow.