§ Sir A. ACLAND-HOOD (Chief Opposition Whip) moved: "That Mr. Speaker do issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new writ for the election of a Member to serve in the 1796 present Parliament for the City of Edinburgh (West Division) in the room of Sir Lewis Mclver, Bart., who, since his election, has accepted the stewardship of the Manor of Northstead."
§ Question put.
§ Mr. KEIR HARDIEMay I ask whether it is necessary to press this to-day? It may be that one or two parties in the constituency desire to contest this election, and there has been no opportunity given to them. Surely, as a matter of courtesy to the other parties, this election should not be rushed in this manner. I ask that it should be delayed for at least a week in order to at least give the other parties time to consider what action should be taken.
§ Sir A. ACLAND-HOODI gave the ordinary twenty-four hours' notice which is customary in this House, and I believe even that notice is not legally necessary. Of course, if the House wishes that the Chief Whip of each Party is to give notice of the issue of a writ to the Whips of the Liberal party, the Irish party, the Labour party, and the other parties, that is a matter for consideration, but until we do come to that arrangement the hon. Member below the Gangway will agree that I have acted in the usual way, and perhaps, under the circumstances, he will withdraw his objection.
§ Mr. KEIR HARDIEI was not complaining of lack of courtesy on the part of the Chief Whip of the Opposition, but the public outside have had no knowledge or intimation of the vacancy conveyed to them and, under the circumstances, I press my objection.
§ Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLIn a matter of this kind I have known at least one occasion on which an election was improperly rushed. It was the case of a former Chief Whip of the Tory Party when he accepted the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds. The very same day the writ was issued, I think for West Down, where his young hopeful came in without there being any opportunity or the slightest chance to contest the constituency. Constituencies ought not to be rushed either in favour of one party or the other, and they should have some voice in the selection.
§ Question put,
§ The House divided: Ayes, 139; Noes, 59.
1797| Division No. 96.] | AYES. | [2.58 p.m. |
| Agar-Robartes, Hon. T. C. R. | Greenwood, G. (Peterborough) | Pearce, William (Limehouse) |
| Armitage, R. | Hall, Frederick | Pease, Herbert Pike (Darlington) |
| Ashley, W. W. | Harcourt, Rt. Hon. L. (Rossendale) | Pickersgill, Edward Hare |
| Baker, Sir John (Portsmouth) | Harcourt, Robert V. (Montrose) | Pirie, Duncan V. |
| Balcarres, Lord | Harrison Broadley, H. B. | Powell, Sir Francis Sharp |
| Barker, Sir John | Hart-Davies, T. | Priestley, W. E. B. (Bradford, E.) |
| Beach, Hon. Michael Hugh Hicks | Harvey, W. E. (Derbyshire, N.E.) | Pullar, Sir Robert |
| Beale, W. P. | Hazel, Dr. A. E. W. | Randles, Sir John Scurrah |
| Beauchamp, E. | Heaton, John Henniker | Rees, J. D. |
| Benn, W. (Tower Hamlets, St. Geo.) | Hedges, A. Paget | Remnant, James Farquharson |
| Bennett, E. N. | Hemmerde, Edward George | Rendall, Athelstan |
| Brace, William | Herbert, T. Arnold (Wycombe) | Renton, Leslie |
| Branch, James | Higham, John Sharp | Richards, Thomas (W. Monmouth) |
| Brigg, John | Hill, Sir Clement | Ridsdale, E. A. |
| Bright, J. A. | Hobhouse, Charles E. H. | Roberts, Sir J. H. (Denbighs) |
| Brotherton, Edward Allen | Hooper, A. G. | Robinson, S. |
| Burns, Rt. Hon. John | Hope, James Fitzalan (Sheffield) | Robson, Sir William Snowdon |
| Campbell, Rt. Hon. J. H. M. | Hunt, Rowland | Roch, Walter F. (Pembroke) |
| Carlile, E. Hildred | Illingworth, Percy H. | Rogers, F. E. Newman |
| Causton, Rt. Hon. Richard Knight | Johnson, W. (Nuneaton) | Rowlands, J. |
| Cawley, Sir Frederick | Laidlaw, Robert | Samuel, Rt. Hon. H. L. (Cleveland) |
| Cheetham, John Frederick | Lambert, George | Sandys, Col. Thos. Myles |
| Cherry, Rt. Hon. R. R. | Lane-Fox, G. R. | Seely, Colonel |
| Clark, George Smith | Layland-Barrett, Sir Francis | Shipman, Dr. John G. |
| Cleland, J. W. | Lee, Arthur H. (Hants, Fareham) | Soares, Ernest J. |
| Clough, William | Leese, Sir Joseph F. (Accrington) | Stanier, Beville |
| Compton-Rickett, Sir J. | Lever, W. H. (Cheshire, Wirral) | Strachey, Sir Edward |
| Corbett, C. H. (Sussex, E. Grinstead) | Levy, Sir Maurice | Taylor, Theodore C. (Radcliffe) |
| Cotton, Sir H. J. S. | Lloyd-George, Rt. Hon. David | Thomas, Sir A. (Glamorgan, E.) |
| Craik, Sir Henry | Lonsdale, John Brownlee | Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton) |
| Davies, Ellis William (Eifion) | Lyell, Charles Henry | Tomkinson, James |
| Davies, Timothy (Fulham) | Macdonald, J. M. (Falkirk Burghs) | Toulmin, George |
| Dewar, Arthur (Edinburgh, S.) | Macnamara, Dr. Thomas J. | Trevelyan, Charles Philips |
| Dewar, Sir J. A. (Inverness-sh.) | M'Arthur, Charles | Tuke, Sir John Batty |
| Dixon-Hartland, Sir Fred Dixon) | M'Callum, John M. | Ure, Rt. Hon. Alexander |
| Doughty, Sir George | M'Kenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald | Vivian, Henry |
| Douglas, Rt. Hon. A. Akers- | M'Micking, Major G. | Waring, Walter |
| Duckworth, Sir James | Marks, H. H. (Kent) | Wason, Rt. Hon. E. (Clackmannan) |
| Duncan, Robert (Lanark, Govan) | Masterman, C. F. G. | Wason, John Cathcart (Orkney) |
| Edwards, Enoch (Hanley) | Menzies, Walter | Whitley, John Henry (Halifax) |
| Erskine, David C. | Molteno, Percy Alport | Wilson, John (Durham, Mid) |
| Esslemont, George Birnie | Money, L. G. Chiozza | Wood, T. M'Kinnon |
| Evans, Sir S. T. | Montagu, Hon. E. S. | Younger, George |
| Faber, Capt. W. V. (Hants, W.) | Morgan, G. Hay (Cornwall) | |
| Falconer, J. | Morrison-Bell, Captain | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—Sir A. Acland-Hood and Mr. Joseph Pease. |
| Fenwick, Charles | Murray, Capt. Hon. A. C. (Kincard.). | |
| Forster, Henry William | Murray, James (Aberdeen, E.) | |
| Gardner, Ernest | Oddy, John James |
| NOES. | ||
| Abraham, W. (Cork, N.E.) | Griffith, Ellis J. | Price, C. E. (Edinburgh, Central) |
| Abrahams, William (Rhondda) | Hardie, J. Keir (Merthyr Tydvil) | Robertson, J. M. (Tyneside) |
| Baring, Godfrey (Isle of Wight) | Henderson, Arthur (Durham) | Roche, John (Galway, East) |
| Barnes, G. N. | Hogan, Michael | Rutherford, V. H. (Brentford) |
| Belloc, Hilaire Joseph Peter R. | Horniman, Emslie John | Silcock, Thomas Ball |
| Boulton, A. C. F. | Jenkins, J. | Smeaton, Donald Mackenzie |
| Bowerman, C. W. | Johnson, John (Gateshead) | Smyth, Thomas F. (Leitrim, S.) |
| Bramsdon, T. A. | Jones, Leif (Appleby) | Snowden, P. |
| Byles, William Pollard | Kavanagh, Walter M. | Summerbell, T. |
| Channing, Sir Francis Allston | King, Alfred John (Knutsford) | Taylor, John W. (Durham) |
| Crean, Eugene | Macdonald, J. R. (Leicester) | Thorne, William (West Ham) |
| Crooks, William | MacNeilll, John Gordon Swift | Watt, Henry A. |
| Curran, Peter Francis | MacVeigh, Charles (Donegal, E.) | Wedgwood, Josiah C. |
| Dilke, Rt. Hon. Sir Charles | Marnham, F. J. | Weir, James Galloway |
| Ellis, Rt. Hon. John Edward | Meehan, Francis E. (Leitrim, N.) | White, Sir George (Norfolk) |
| Everett, R. Lacey | Meehan, Patrick A. (Queen's Co.) | Wilson, P. W. (St. Pancras, S.) |
| Findlay, Alexander | Myer, Horatio | Wilson, W. T. (Westhoughton) |
| Gill, A. H. | O'Brien, K. (Tipperary, Mid) | |
| Ginnell, L. | O'Kelly, James (Roscommon, N.) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—Mr. T. F. Richards and Mr. C. Duncan. |
| Glover, Thomas | Philips, John (Longford, S.) | |
| Goddard, Sir Daniel Ford | Power, Patrick Joseph |