§ MR. RIDSDALE (Brighton)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he is aware that it has been decided to hold the sittings of the Royal Commission on Vivisection in private; and will he say if there has been any recent precedent for such a course.
§ *MR. GLADSTONEI am aware of the decision of the Royal Commission, but, as I said last week, the question whether any one shall be admitted during the taking of evidence is a matter within the discretion of the Commissioners. In several recent cases the evidence has been taken in private; I may instance the Motor Car Commission, the War Commission of 1002, and the Royal Commission on Food Supply in Time of War.
§ MR. G. GREENWOOD (Peterborough)May I ask if the right hon. Gentleman will use his influence with the Commissioners, in view of the public feeling on this question, to induce them to admit accredited members of the Press to their sittings?
§ *MR. GLADSTONEOfficially I have no power whatever to interfere with a Royal Commission.
§ MR. G. GREENWOODI used the word influence.
§ MR. LUPTON (Lincolnshire, Sleaford)Is there not an official of the Home Office on the Commission?
§ *MR. GLADSTONEOne of the Members of the Commissioners is an official of the Home Office.