§ Mr. BONAR LAWMay I ask the Home Secretary whether he has any statement to make in regard to the course of business to-day?
§ Mr. McKENNAAs the negotiations at the conference are still going on, it is not considered desirable to proceed with the Minimum Wage Bill to-day.
§ Mr. EUGENE WASONMay I ask my right hon. Friend whether, as the Temperance (Scotland) Bill has been put down as 42 the First Order for to-morrow, it will be taken as arranged?
§ Mr. McKENNATo-morrow it is more than probable that the Minimum Wage Bill will be the First Order of the day.
§ Sir GEORGE YOUNGERMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman if he can assure us that the other Bill will not be taken tomorrow? We really ought to know. It is a monstrous thing to take this step.
§ Mr. McKENNAI am most anxious to give the House all the information I can. It is quite obvious that if the proceedings at the conference finish this afternoon, the Minimum Wage Bill ought to be proceeded with to-morrow. If, on the other hand, the conference has not concluded, it would not be possible to proceed immediately with the Bill.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWMight I ask the right hon. Gentleman if he will not this afternoon, or at the earliest possible moment, give us information on the subject; and might I suggest that if it is possible to do so it would be well not to take a contentious measure like the Temperance (Scotland) Bill to-morrow, but to take some other business, like Supply?
§ Mr. McKENNAIt would be a most desirable course to let the right hon. Gentleman know at the earliest possible moment whether the Bill will be proceeded with to-morrow or not. As to the other point, I think it will be necessary to consult my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.
§ Mr. LEIF JONESSupposing that the conference comes to an end this afternoon, would there be any difficulty in proceeding with the Minimum Wage Bill at 8.15 to-night?
§ Mr. McKENNAThere is a private Bill arranged for 8.15 to-night. I think it would be better to proceed with the Minimum Wage Bill as the First Order to-morrow.
§ Mr. ARNOLD WARDWill the right hon. Gentleman give us an assurance that the delays and contingencies which may happen during the next few days will not interfere with the taking of the Women's Suffrage Bill on Thursday?
§ Mr. McKENNAI do not think there is any likelihood of the Women's Suffrage Bill being interfered with on next Thurday, but it is impossible to give an absolute assurance.
§ Sir WILLIAM BYLESThere are two or three questions not quite reached which relate to matters of some urgency and of great public interest, and I would ask whether it is possible in those circumstances to put questions eighty-one, eighty-two, and eighty-three?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe effect of giving that indulgence would be to give encouragement to hon. Members to ask supplementary questions on early questions.
§ Mr. REMNANTCan the right hon. Gentleman say if the reports are true that the negotiations have broken down in reference to this Bill?
§ Mr. McKENNANo, Sir. I cannot say whether they are true or untrue. I have heard absolutely nothing to that effect.
§ Mr. JAMES HOPECan the right hon. Gentleman say when the further stages of the Consolidated Fund Bill will be taken? Will they be proceeded with to-morrow—the next stage in any event?
§ Mr. McKENNAYes, the next stage must be proceeded with to-morrow and the final stage on Wednesday.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTI desire to ask a question relating to business in the House. On Friday I handed in a question at the Table in the following terms—
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member is now seeking some method of bringing the question before the House. I do not think that that is treating me or the House fairly.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTI must designate the question in some way. I handed in a question relating to a speech delivered by the hon. Member for Woodstock deliberately inciting soldiers to mutiny—
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member is endeavouring to do in effect that which, by my ruling, I said he should not do. If the hon. Member asks me why I refused to allow the question to be put, that is a question which I shall be glad to answer, but I strongly object to his reading the terms of the question which I refused.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTMay I direct your attention, to question No. 81 on the Paper by the Noble Lord the Member for the Horsham Division (Earl Winterton), in which he asks a question similar to that which I ask?
§ Mr. SPEAKERIf the hon. Member will ask his question I shall be glad to answer it. The question which he is now putting is of an argumentative character.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTI asked the question with the character of which you are acquainted. I handed it in at the Table, and to-day I found that it was not upon the Order Paper. I thereupon wrote to you, and asked you whether I might put that question to the Attorney-General, of which I had given private notice to-day, and I received a reply from your secretary in the following terms. May I read the reply?
The Speaker wishes me to say he does not consider the question you submitted to him an urgent one, but he wishes me to say that it you desire to raise this matter during the discussion on the Consolidated Fund Bill, he thinks it should be possible for you to do so then.The question which I wish to ask you is this: Why this question, which was duly handed in on Friday, does not appear on the Paper to-day; and, in the second place, whether the fact that a question is not, in the opinion of Mr. Speaker, urgent, is a proper reason for refusing to allow it to appear on the Paper?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe reason why I did not allow the question of the hon. Member to appear was because it seemed to me to be not a genuine question put to the Attorney-General for the purpose of eliciting information, but a covert attack on an hon. Member in respect of a speech which I think he made last October. Considering that the House has been sitting almost continuously since October, there has been plenty of opportunity for asking questions before now. If the hon. Member wishes to raise the matter by argument, I told him through my secretary that I thought he would have an opportunity of raising it to-day. With regard to the reason why it is not allowed to be asked as an urgent matter to-day, my reason is because it is not urgent. As I have said, the speech to which the hon. Member wishes to draw attention was made last October, and there has been ample opportunity of raising the question since.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTAs a matter of personal explanation with regard to the motive which you have attributed to me in asking that question, I beg to assure you that I had no desire whatever to attack the hon Member who made the speech. The matter was raised because of the recent action of the Attorney-General.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member is now making a speech which, he will have an opportunity of making on the Consolidated Fund Bill.
§ Mr. SPEAKERI call on the right hon. Gentleman on my right (Mr. Munro-Ferguson).
§ Mr. SPEAKERI informed the hon. Member that I have called upon the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Leith, who wishes to put a question.
§ Mr. MUNRO-FERGUSONI beg to ask the Home Secretary whether he can state definitely if the Scottish Temperance Bill will be taken before Thursday, and, if it is not down for to-morrow, will it be for Wednesday? I think it is fair that we should know, if possible, now how soon we shall be able to take it?
§ Mr. McKENNAIt is highly probable that it will be taken on Wednesday, if not to-morrow, but it is impossible for me to give any undertaking on the point. I will, however, communicate as soon as I can both with the hon. Gentleman opposite and my right hon. Friend upon this subject in the course of the afternoon.
§ Lord BALCARRESWill the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that it is the universal practice for the Consolidated Fund Bill to take precedence of other measures, and that Wednesday is only half a Government day?
§ Mr. McKENNAYes, I shall have to take that into account.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTI desire to ask whether I am to be absolutely excluded from putting questions on the Paper with reference to incitements to mutiny while the Noble Lord—[HON. MEMBERS: "Order."]
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member will have ample opportunity—
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member will not even listen to my reply. The hon. Member will have absolute freedom to put any questions which are suitable and which, in my judgment, can be put to the 46 Attorney-General. If he will bring it to me in writing I shall be glad to look at it, and, if I consider it suitable, it shall be put on the Paper.