§ MR. HAZLETON (Galway, N)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state the reason why, in the official Reports of the proceedings of the Houses of Parliament, the speeches of Members of the Upper House are invariably reported in the first person, whereas this, with few exceptions, is not the practice in reporting the proceedings of this House; whether the speeches of Members of the Upper House are reported verbatim, and, if so, what is the extra cost involved; and whether steps will be taken to have a uniform method adopted in the Reports of the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) I understand that it is not the invariable practice to report all speeches delivered in the House of Lords verbatim, but both because the Debates in that House 409 are usually shorter and because greater facilities for hearing them are afforded to the reporters, it is only natural that the Reports of the proceedings there should be fuller than of those in this House. Under the existing contract, which does not expire until December 31st, 1907, the contractors are permitted to exercise their discretion as to the fulness of the Reports, subject to an obligation to report verbatim all Questions addressed to a Minister with the Minister's reply, and to report no speech at less than one-third of its length as delivered. I do not see how an opportunity for reconsidering this arrangement can occur until the expiration of the existing contract.