§ Mr. BOTTOMLEYI desire, Mr. Speaker, to draw your attention to a somewhat novel matter of privilege, and I have to apologise for not being able to give you previous notice of my intention, because the matter came to my notice only shortly before entering the House. Yesterday I had on the Order Paper a question addressed to the President of the Board of Trade asking him whether it was a fact that the Public Trustee was in the habit of advising the sale of British securities with a view to re-investment in foreign stocks, and as I came to the House I received an intimation in which I was asked to address that question to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and I received from him a letter asking me to put the 1532 question down to him on some other day. In consequence of that, I notified that the question would be asked on Monday next. I was therefore surprised when my attention was called to the fact that to-day's "Times," under a special heading, repeats my question, and gives in great detail what purports to be the answer to it, and collaterally with that gives a Memorandum from the Public Trustee counteracting the effect of the answer. My point is this: one of two things must have happened. Either the Financial Secretary to the Treasury—and I am very far from making such a suggestion—must, while asking me to postpone my question to Monday next, have forwarded the answer in advance to the public Press, or the Public Trustee, having prepared what he conceived would be accepted as a matter of course by the Minister as an answer to the question, must have attached some explanatory memoranda calculated to counteract the effect and have sent the memoranda and the question and answer to the Press without waiting till the question was put in this House. In either case I submit a gross violation of the rights of private Members has been committed, and I ask you to administer a suitable admonition to whoever may be the culprit.
§ Mr. SPEAKERIt is certainly very improper that answers should appear in the newspapers before they are delivered here. I am afraid that I cannot throw any light on the mystery of how these things get into the newspapers. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman knows more about that than I do.
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEMy attention was drawn at somewhere about 12 o'clock this morning to the memorandum which appears in "The Times" to-day. I need hardly say that no answer which had not been given to the hon. Gentleman had been in any way communicated to the Press. Undoubtedly there was an unfortunate misunderstanding in the office of the Public Trustee, and I have addressed a suitable communication to the officials.