§ Mr. JOHN O'CONNORMr. Speaker, I desire to ask your ruling on a point of Order—whether, when a Member asks a question appertaining to a particular Department of the State, he is entitled to an answer from the Member of the Government who is responsible for that Department; whether, when a Member asks a question concerning expenditure of the revenue, he is entitled to an answer from the Secretary to the Treasury who has prepared, signed, and submitted to the House the Estimates dealing with the particular expenditure on which information is sought; whether the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is justified in refusing to me information on the expenditure of revenue on public education in England, Ireland, and Scotland for which his Department is responsible, and in directing me to the several Ministers responsible for the government of the three countries respectively for such information; and whether I am not entitled to get the information I require from the Minister who can give it in the most expeditious, concrete, and useful form; and what is my remedy in case I am denied such information?
§ Mr. SPEAKERIn reply to the hon. Member, all I can say is that Ministers give their replies upon their own authority, and they use their discretion as to what replies they give and how they give them, and if the hon. Gentleman is not satisfied with any reply that he gets from any particular Minister he has an opportunity, when that Minister's salary comes up for confirmation, to make such criticism or such attack as he thinks necessary and suitable. That is the only remedy which he has. I have no appliances with which to extract for the hon. Member answers from Ministers.
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEI may point out—I hope to the satisfaction of the hon. Gentleman—that in regard to the series of questions which he addressed to me, if I were able to give him the information which he desires in the form that he wishes, I should be very glad to do so, and I would do that on my own initiative; but I should have in each case to apply to the Department concerned, and to which I referred him, and I should act merely as a post office in the matter. I should have no guarantee that the information which he sought and which he would 1894 obtain through me from the other Departments would be compiled upon a basis which would give him a satisfactory reply in regard to the information which he seeks. That is my reason, and my only reason, for requesting him to ask his questions of the three other Ministers concerned.
§ Mr. JOHN O'CONNORI desire to give notice that in consequence of the unsatisfactory statement now made by the Secretary to the Treasury—and I have gone into the question very carefully, Mr. Speaker— I shall take the earliest opportunity, provided I am not closured, of moving the reduction of the right hon. Gentleman's salary when it comes under the discussion of the House, for his discourtesy in this connection, and I shall bring before the House the ignorance of the Department over which he presides.
§ Mr. PAGE CROFTArising out of the answer of the right hon. Gentleman— [HON. MEMBERS: "Order, order ! "]
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe answer was given by myself, and the hon. Gentleman must not cross-examine me.