§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That, during the remainder of the Session
- (1)Government business shall not be interrupted under the provisions of any Standing Order regulating the sittings of the House, and may be entered on at any hour though opposed, and shall have precedence at every sitting.
- (2) At the conclusion of Government business each day Mr. Speaker shall propose the Question that this House do now adjourn, and if that Question shall not have been agreed to Mr. Speaker shall adjourn the House without Question put not later than half-an-hour after the conclusion of Government business.
- (3) On Fridays the House, unless it otherwise resolves, shall at its rising stand adjourned until the following Monday."—[The Chancellor of the Exchequer.]
§ Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINIt is rather an unusual thing to have a Motion of this kind at this period of the Session, but I think it is especially unusual to have it moved at this time of the morning. In my experience it has always been the first Motion on the Paper and I think that it is the universal practice for the Leader of the House or the Minister acting for him on such occasions to make a statement as to the general intentions of the Government with regard to the conduct of the business for the rest of the Session. I trust that the Chancellor of the Exchequer intends to do that because in passing this Motion we really part with our last control over the Government in the conduct of business for the rest of the Session. I think we are entitled to know what Bills the Government, does intend to proceed with. I gather that under the Resolution we have just been discussing the Home Rule Bill will occupy all our Parliamentary time well into December, except Fridays.
Do the Government intend to proceed with the Welsh Disestablishment Bill before Christmas, and do they intend to proceed with it at Friday sittings? The same question applies to the Franchise Bill and to the Trade Union Bill. I think we ought to have some information from the Government. Then there are a good number of measures 1016 not so contentious but of considerable importance as to which we should like to know the intentions of the Government. There, is for instance, the White Slave Bill. What provision do the Government mean to make for passing that into law during the present Session? What facilities will they give the House for its discussion? There is also the question of the appointment of a new judge. Then there is a Bill of great importance, the progress of which is greatly overdue. I refer to the Railways Bill. As the House will remember that Bill was part of a definite arrangement made by the Government with the railway companies. The Government offered it to the railway companies as an inducement to them to take a certain course. They took that course and the Government are bound in honour to pass the Bill which was promised in consideration of the course the companies took. We should like to know what time is going to be given for that. I do not know how long the Committee on the Marconi Contract is likely to sit, but if they are going to report this Session clearly the Government must give an opportunity for the discussion of that report.
There are other matters: for instance, foot-and-mouth disease. It is not a legislative proposal but it is extremely likely to demand our attention in the House. The Feeble-Minded Bill is a Bill in which a great number of people belonging to all parties are interested. It is not wholly uncontentious, but it is not contentious in a party sense. What do the Government intend to do with that? Are they going to proceed with it, and if so, what time are they going to allow for it? There is another Bill in which Members on this side take a good deal of interest and deals with a subject in which I think Members on all sides are concerned—the Housing Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sir A. Griffith-Boscawen). We hope the Government will find some time for that Bill. In the ordinary way it would fall to anyone in my position on an occasion of this sort to criticise Ministers' choice of Bills, or to pick up a thread or two the Minister has dropped, but as in this case the right hon. Gentleman moved this Motion in silence, I have enumerated in more detail the measures I think he ought to tell us something about. There is one-other point. As I read the Motion it suspends the Five o'Clock Rule permanently on all Fridays throughout the Session. 1017 [HON. MEMBERS: "No" and "Yes."] I am very glad to hear from the President of the Board of Education that it does not. I hope, at any rate, the Government do not intend that it should. If they do intend to include Fridays, we ought to have a very definite explanation from the Government as to what purposes they propose to put the suspension of the Five o'Clock Rule on Fridays. Of course if the Five o'Clock Rule is suspended on that day there is no reason, so far as I know, in the Standing Orders why the House should not sit until Monday morning.
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI am very much obliged to the right hon. Gentleman for reminding me that on these occasions it is usual to give a general idea as to the course of business. The reason I did not do so was because I was under the impression that before we adjourned the Prime Minister made a statement of that kind. On inquiry I find that that was not done. It is usual in moving such resolutions that there should be some general indication of the course of business, subject of course to contingencies and unforeseen circumstances. With regard to the Home Rule Bill the House knows the intentions of the Government. It is intended to press the Welsh Disestablishment Bill through in the course of the present session, and it is proposed to take some days on that Bill before Christmas.
§ Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINNot Friday?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThat I could not say at the moment.
§ Mr. MALCOLMPerhaps the right hon. Gentleman, as he is going on, will say whether he means to take four days a week in succession on the Home Rule Bill.
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI should not like to answer that, but I should think, as a rule, it would be four days a week. The Prime Minister has promised not to take Fridays. The third Bill is the Electoral Bill. That we propose to put through during the course of the present Session.
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEIf the hon. and gallant Member can persuade his friends to do so there would be no objection on our part.
§ Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe right hon. Gentleman speaks of dealing 1018 with these Bills this Session. Is it the intention of the Government to proceed with them before Christmas?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI am not in a position to say at the present moment what Bills will be taken before Christmas, but I understand it is the intention of the Government to proceed with the Welsh Disestablishment Bill at least on two or three days before Christmas. The next Bill is the Criminal Law Amendment Bill. It is intended that facilities should be given for putting that Bill through in the course of the present Session. The same thing applies to the Trade Unions Bill, the Mental Deficiency Bill, and the Inebriates Bill. The Expiring Laws Continuance Bill will, of course, have to be passed, and there may be other Departmental Bills. The Government has always to safeguard itself against undertaking not to pass a Departmental Bill. It may be a matter of urgency to do so. With regard to the Housing Bill, I am not in a position to make any statement. That Bill involves a considerable expenditure of public money. The right hon. Gentleman has asked as to the Railways Bill. On that I cannot make a statement without making further inquiries. There is a good deal of opposition on both sides of the House to that Bill, although he has rather urged it upon us as if his friends supported it. That is not the case by any means.
§ Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINNo; I urged it as a bargain which the Government came to with the railway companies. The House of Commons may decline to ratify that bargain, but the Government should give the House the opportunity of ratifying it if it so desired.
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEIf we have a clear indication that the House of Commons is not prepared to ratify the bargain we should have to look into the position. With regard to the five o'clock rule on Fridays, it is proposed to suspend it, not because we intend to sit right into the Saturday. The right hon. Gentleman knows well there is a great difference between proceeding with a Bill with the certain knowledge that at five o'clock the discussion would end, and proceeding with it when the House knows the discussion can go on beyond five o'clock. You are much more likely to get on with the business when there is that knowledge. With regard to the Marconi Contract there certainly must be an opportunity for full discussion of any report which the Committee 1019 presents. With regard to the new judge I am not in a position to give information on that point. I think I have now covered all the points raised. If the right hon. Gentleman tells me there is any I have not answered—
§ Mr. HAROLD SMITHYou have not answered any.
§ Sir F. BANBURYI have an Amendment down to this Motion which would have the effect of depriving the Government of the power of suspending the Eleven o'Clock Rule on ordinary days and the Five o'Clock Rule on Fridays. I made a Motion to this effect last year. I did not press it because the Prime Minister gave me an assurance which satisfied me and caused me to withdraw my Motion. I have had an opportunity of a slight discussion with the Patronage Secretary, and I hope the right hon. Gentleman, in the absence of the Prime Minister, will give me the same assurance as I had last year. If he does I shall be pleased to withdraw my Amendment. The assurance I ask for is a reasonable one. It is this, that after eleven o'clock on ordinary days and five o'clock on Fridays no new business shall be entered on, unless by agreement through the ordinary channels, and that the suspension of the Eleven o'Clock Rule and the Five o'Clock Rule will not be used to continue for any great length of time the business under discussion, but merely to wind up the business in as brief a time as possible. In order to give the right hon. Gentleman an opportunity to reply I beg to move, in paragraph (1), to leave out the words "not be interrupted under the provisions of any Standing Order regulating the sittings of the House, and may be entered on at any hour though opposed, and shall—"
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEMy recollection is confirmed by what I am told by my hon. Friends that the hon. Baronet got far and away the best of the bargain. I think we have been taught a little by experience that the pledge asked for is rather a dangerous one to give and I think we must press for something a little better from the point of view of Government business. For instance, about not starting fresh business at eleven o'clock. What about Departmental Bills? What does controversial mean? I do not want to give a pledge that afterwards we might be taunted with breaking.
§ Lord BALCARRESDuring the two months of last session there never was once the smallest difficulty as to what was, or was not, in common parlance controversial business.
§ Sir F. BANBURYI was under the impression that I rather got the worst of the bargain and I was hoping for something a little better. I would like to confirm what my Noble Friend says, and I think the hon. Member for Dumfries will confirm it too, because he and I had a considerable discussion as to what was and what was not controversial business during the last two months of last session, and never had any dispute upon it; indeed we arranged matters most satisfactorily.
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThe hon. Baronet read out a list of Bills, but I do not know whether they would be regarded as controversial.
§ Sir F. BANBURYIt is not supposed for a moment that these Bills will be taken at three or four in the morning. It is understood that they will be proceeded with up to 11.30 or 12 o'clock or something of that sort. The point is that there will be no fresh business taken aften eleven.
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI see that the hon. Baronet wants a pledge that none of these Bills, although not strictly controversial, will be taken. There are Gentlemen who object to all of them. Take, for instance, the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, though it is not controversial in the ordinary party sense, would the hon. Baronet regard that as a Bill which we should not begin if it was necessary in order to get it through. If that is the case I am afraid it is impossible to accept it. It is a very serious pledge to give because we might find it almost impossible to get the Bill through except by taking it after eleven. That class of Bill is not in the ordinary sense a Government Bill. They are Bills for which there is a demand on both sides, and especially in the country, and I do not want to give any pledge that would make it difficult for us to get them through. There is really no desire on the part of Ministers or their supporters to sit late at night and the hon. Baronet may depend upon it that we are not going to use this harshly or oppressively. I do hope the hon. Baronet will not press me for any further pledge than that.
§ Mr. RAWLINSONI venture to press the Government very strongly upon this 1021 Motion. I think a pledge ought to be given by the Government that new business will not be taken after eleven o'clock. For instance, there are the Mental Deficiency Bill and the Criminal Law Amendment Bill. If these are entered upon after eleven o'clock bad work will be done by the House of Commons. I will give an instance of what I mean. The Criminal Appeal Bill was brought in as late as about a quarter to one in the morning, and we went on to about six o'clock. There was no question of obstruction. I say if you bring in a Bill such as the Criminal Law Amendment Bill after eleven you will be doing bad work. What is the result? We all know that a few people interested in the measure—a few legal people perhaps—may sit up. The others are a small contingent of conscripts brought in by the Whips to support the Government, but they take no interest in the subject under discussion. They are bored so insufferably that they keep outside the House. I do press the House most strongly to support this Motion. It is not a question of this particular Government. The same thing may arise with any Government. It is a question of the rights of private Members as against the Front Bench, and I press the Government very strongly to make this concession to Back Bench people. We shall be here night after night and it is not right that fresh business should be started after eleven o'clock, which even though it is not, as the Chancellor has remarked, strictly controversial, still does affect a large number of people and requires proper consideration, which it does not get either from the House or from the officials who advise the Government.
§ Mr. BOOTHI rise to impress upon the Members of the House the importance of some of these smaller Bills and particularly some of the Clauses. Although I do that I cannot agree with this Amendment. I do not see any necessity for it. If we do take a keen interest either in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill or the Mental Deficiency Bill, I say we ought to be prepared to show it. I am quite prepared to show it. I want a good deal of time to discuss both of these Bills and it is perfectly reasonable to commence them after eleven o'clock. I shall probably discuss them more than anybody else and if we are in earnest surely we can make some little sacrifice. Take the Criminal Law Amendment Bill. It is not a subject that 1022 lends itself to long reports in the public Press, but it does not concern us about being reported verbatim. What does concern us is that we should discuss it properly and try to get it made into a workable measure. The same thing applies to the Mental Deficiency Bill and as one who once discussed these bills very thoroughly I cannot agree to this Amendment.
§ Mr. MALCOLMMight I ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he comes to reply to say a word about the appointment of a Select Committee on the Putumayo atrocities? I would like to know when that Select Committee will be set up and whether there will be a day given for discussion of the terms of reference in this-House.
§ Mr. MOOREI beg to support my Friend the hon. Baronet who represents the City of London. I hope we shall have no more of this silly vexatious, self-advertising legislation brought in by the Vice-President of the Irish Department of Agriculture, which is the curse of the country.
§ Sir W. BYLESI should be sorry to make the task of the Government more difficult but I do feel it to be my duty to express my dissent from the observations of my Friend the Member for Pontefract (Mr. Booth) and my agreement with the hon. and learned Member for Cambridge University (Mr. Rawlinson). I do think that such measures as the Criminal Law Amendment Bill and the Mental Deficiency Bill are of the most supreme importance and of very great difficulty, and that they ought not to be considered or passed in this House in a Session of this kind after eleven o'clock at night.
§ Mr. ARNOLD WARDI should like to ask three questions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the answers to which would be of great assistance to us in making our arrangements. First, how long in his opinion is the Session likely to last; second, what sort of an interval we shall have at Christmas; and, third, a question which is closely bound up with the other two, when the Government intend to announce their land campaign?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEI do not think the last question is relevant to this Motion. As to number two, I think it is premature to make any announcement. As to the length of the Session the hon. Member might pursue his enquiries on the other side of the House. It does not depend 1023 upon us alone how long the Session will last. In reply to the hon. Member for Croydon (Mr. Malcolm), I understand that the noble lord the Member for Hitchin (Lord Robert Cecil) has submitted certain terms of reference to the Government which, with very slight alteration, will be accepted. The Committee will then be
§ set up, and a question may then be addressed to the Prime Minister as to the date of the discussion.
§ Question put, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question."
§ The House divided: Ayes, 199; Noes, 93.
1025| Division No. 249.] | AYES. | [3.45 a.m. |
| Abraham, William (Dublin, Harbour) | Harcourt, Robert V. (Montrose) | O'Malley, William |
| Adamson, William | Harvey, T. E. (Leeds, West) | O'Neill, Dr. Charles (Armagh, S.) |
| Allen, Arthur A. (Dumbartonshire) | Harvey, W. E. (Derbyshire, N. E.) | O'Shaughnessy, p. J. |
| Allen, Rt. Hon. Charles P. (Stroud) | Havelock-Allan, Sir Henry | O'Shee, James John |
| Arnold, Sydney | Hayden, John Patrick | O'Sullivan, Timothy |
| Barnes, George N. | Hayward, Evan | Outhwaite, R. L. |
| Barton, William | Hazleton, Richard | Palmer, Godfrey Mark |
| Beck, Arthur Cecil | Healy, Maurice (Cork) | Pearce, Robert (Staffs, Leek) |
| Benn, W. W. (T. H'mts, St. George) | Healy, Timothy Michael (Cork, N. E.) | Pease, Rt. Hon. Joseph A. (Rotherham) |
| Boland, John Pius | Henderson, Arthur (Durham) | Phillips, John (Longford, S.) |
| Booth, Frederick Handel | Henry, Sir Charles S. | Power, Patrick Joseph |
| Bowerman, Charles W. | Higham, John Sharp | Price, C. E. (Edinburgh, Central) |
| Boyle, Daniel (Mayo, North) | Hinds, John | Price, Sir Robert J. (Norfolk, E.) |
| Brace, William | Hobhouse, Rt. Hon. Charles E. H. | Primrose, Hon. Neil James |
| Brady, Patrick Joseph | Howard, Hon. Geoffrey | Pringle, William M. R. |
| Brocklehurst, William B. | Isaacs, Rt. Hon. Sir Rufus | Raffan, Peter Wilson |
| Brunner, J. F. L. | John, Edward Thomas | Reddy, Michael |
| Burke, E. Haviland- | Jones, Henry Haydn (Merioneth) | Redmond, J. E. (Waterford) |
| Carr-Gomm, H. W. | Jones, William (Carnarvonshire) | Redmond, William Archer (Tyrone, E.) |
| Cawley, H. T. (Lancs., Heywood) | Jones, W. S. Glyn- (T. H'mts, Stepney) | Richards, Thomas |
| Chancellor, H. G. | Joyce, Michael | Richardson, Thomas (Whitehaven) |
| Chapple, Dr. William Allen | Keating, Matthew | Roberts, Charles H. (Lincoln) |
| Clancy, John Joseph | Kellaway, Frederick George | Roberts, G. H. (Norwich) |
| Clough, William | Kelly, Edward | Robertson, J. M. (Tyneside) |
| Collins, Godfrey P. (Greenock) | Kennedy, Vincent Paul | Robinson, Sidney |
| Compton-Rickett, Rt. Hon. Sir J. | Kilbride, Denis | Roche, Augustine (Louth) |
| Condon, Thomas Joseph | King, Joseph | Rowlands, James |
| Cornwall, Sir Edwin A. | Lamb, Ernest Henry | Russell, Rt. Hon. Thomas W. |
| Cotton, William Francis | Lambert, Richard (Wilts, Cricklade) | Samuel, Rt. Hon. H. L. (Cleveland) |
| Crawshay-Williams, Eliot | Lardner, James Carrige Rushe | Samuel, J. (Stockton-on-Tees) |
| Crean, Eugene | Law, Hugh A. (Donegal, W.) | Scanlan, Thomas |
| Crumley, Patrick | Levy, Sir Maurice | Scott, A. MacCallum (Glas., Bridgeton) |
| Cullinan, John | Lewis, John Herbert | Seely, Colonel Rt. Hon. J. E. B. |
| Dalziel, Rt. Hon. Sir J. H. (Kirkcaldy) | Low, Sir Frederick (Norwich) | Sheehy, David |
| Davies, Timothy (Lincs., Louth) | Lundon, T. | Sherwell, Arthur James |
| Davies, Sir W. Howell (Bristol, S.) | Lyell, Charles Henry | Shortt, Edward |
| Dawes, J. A. | Lynch, A. A. | Simon, Sir John Allsebrook |
| Delany, William | McGhee, Richard | Smith, Albert (Lancs., Clitheroe) |
| Doris, W. | Macnamara, Rt. Hon. Dr. T. J. | Smyth, Thomas F. (Leitrim, S.) |
| Duffy, William J. | MacNeill, John G. S. (Donegal, South) | Stanley, Albert (Staffs., N. W.) |
| Duncan, C. (Barrow-in-Furness) | Macpherson, James Ian | Sutherland, John E. |
| Duncan, J. Hastings (Yorks, Otley) | MacVeagh, Jeremiah | Sutton, John E. |
| Elverston, Sir Harold | McKenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald | Taylor, John W. (Durham) |
| Esmonde, Dr. John (Tipperary, N.) | M'Laren, Hon. F.W.S. (Lincs., Spalding) | Taylor, Theodore C. (Radcliffe) |
| Esmonde, Sir Thomas (Wexford, N.) | Markham, Sir Arthur Basil | Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton) |
| Essex, Richard Walter | Marshall, Arthur Harold | Toulmin, Sir George |
| Farrell, James Patrick | Meagher, Michael | Trevelyan, Charles Philips |
| Ferens, Rt. Hon. Thomas Robinson | Meehan, Francis E. (Leitrim, N.) | Ure, Rt. Hon. Alexander |
| Ffrench, Peter | Meehan, Patrick A. (Queen's Co.) | Verney, Sir Harry |
| Field, William | Molloy, Michael | Wadsworth, John |
| Fiennes, Hon. Eustace Edward | Mond, Sir Alfred Moritz | Ward, John (Stoke-upon-Trent) |
| Fitzgibbon, John | Mooney, John J. | Ward, W. Dudley (Southampton) |
| Flavin, Michael Joseph | Morison, Hector | Watt, Henry A. |
| Gelder, Sir William Alfred | Muldoon, John | Webb, H. |
| George, Rt. Hen. D. Lloyd | Munro, Rabert | White, J. Dundas (Glasgow, Tradeston) |
| Gilhooly, James | Murray, Capt. Hon. Arthur C. | White, Sir Luke (Yorks, E.R.) |
| Gill, Alfred Henry | Nannetti, Joseph P. | White, Patrick (Meath, North) |
| Ginnell, Laurence | Nolan, Joseph | Whyte, Alexander F. |
| Gladstone, W. G. C. | O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny) | Williams, Llewelyn (Carmarthen) |
| Glanville, Harold James | O'Connor, John (Kildare, N.) | Williams, Penry (Middlesbrough) |
| Goddard, Sir Daniel Ford | O'Connor, T. P. (Liverpool) | Wilson, W. T. (Westhoughton) |
| Greig, Colonel James William | O'Doherty, Philip | Winfrey, Richard |
| Griffith, Ellis, Jones | O'Donnell, Thomas | Wood, Rt. Hon. T. McKinnon (Glas.) |
| Guest, Hon. Frederick E. (Dorset, E.) | O'Dowd, John | Young, William (Perth, East) |
| Guiney, Patrick | Ogden, Fred | |
| Gwynn, Stephen Lucius (Galway) | O'Grady, James | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—Mr. Illingworth and Mr. Gulland. |
| Hackett, John | O'Kelly, Edward P. (Wicklow, W.) | |
| Hall, Frederick (Normanton) | ||
| NOES. | ||
| Ashley, Wilfrid W. | Fetherstonhaugh, Godfrey | Pryce-Jones, Col. E. |
| Baird, J. L. | Fisher, Rt. Hon. W. Hayes | Rawson, Col. Richard H. |
| Balcarres, Lord | Fleming, Valentine | Roberts, S. (Sheffield, Ecclesall) |
| Banbury, Sir Frederick George | Forster, Henry William | Ronaldshay, Earl of |
| Barnston, H. | Gordon, John (Londonderry, South) | Royds, Edmund |
| Barrie, Hugh T. | Gordon, Hon. John Edward (Brighton) | Rutherford, Watson (L'pool, W. Derby) |
| Benn, Arthur Shirley (Plymouth) | Henderson, Major H. (Abingdon) | Salter, Arthur Clavell |
| Bennett-Goldney, Francis | Hewins, William Albert Samuel | Sanders, Robert Arthur |
| Boles, Lieut.-Col. Dennis Fortescue | Hill-Wood, Samuel | Smith, Harold (Warrington) |
| Boyle, W. Lewis (Norfolk, Mid) | Hohler, Gerald Fitzroy | Stanier, Beville |
| Bridgeman, W. Clive | Hope, James Fitzalan (Sheffield) | Stanley, Hon. G. F. (Preston) |
| Burn, Colonel C. R. | Horne, Wm. E. (Surrey, Guildford) | Starkey, John Ralph |
| Butcher, John George | Kerr-Smiley, Peter Kerr | Stewart, Gershom |
| Byles, Sir William Pollard | Kyffin-Taylor, G. | Sykes, Alan John (Ches., Knutsford) |
| Carlile, Sir Edward Hildred | Lane-Fox, G. R. | Sykes, Mark (Hull, Central) |
| Cassel, Felix | Larmor, Sir J. | Talbot, Lord Edmund |
| Castlereagh, Viscnunt | Locker-Lampson, G. (Salisbury) | Terrell, Henry (Gloucester) |
| Cator, John | Locker-Lampson, D. (Ramsey) | Thompson, Robert (Belfast, North) |
| Cecil, Lord R. (Herts, Hitchin) | Lonsdale, Sir John Brownlee | Thomson, W. Mitchell- (Down, North) |
| Chaloner, Col. R. G. W. | Lyttelton, Hon. J. C. (Droitwich) | Thynne, Lord Alexander |
| Chambers, James | MacCaw, Wm. J. McGeagh | Tobin, Alfred Aspinall |
| Clive, Captain Percy Archer | Macmaster, Donald | Tryon, Captain George Clement |
| Clyde, James Avon | McNeill, Ronald (Kent, St. Augustine's) | Ward, Arnold S. (Herts, Watford) |
| Coates, Major Sir Edward Feetham | Malcolm, Ian | Warde, Col. C. E. (Kent, Mid) |
| Cooper, Richard Ashmole | Mills, Hon. Charles Thomas | Wheler, Granville C. H. |
| Craig, Charles Curtis (Antrim, S.) | Moore, William | White, Major G. D. (Lancs., Southport) |
| Craig, Captain James (Down, E.) | Morrison-Bell, Capt. E. F. (Ashburton) | Williams, Col. R. (Dorset, W.) |
| Craig, Norman (Kent, Thanet) | Mount, William Arthur | Worthington-Evans, L. |
| Crichton-Stuart, Lord Ninlan | Neville, Reginald J. N. | Younger, Sir George |
| Dickson, Rt. Hon. C. Scott | Paget, Almeric Hugh | |
| Duke, Henry Edward | Pease, Herbert Pike (Darlington) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—Mr. W. Rawlinson and Mr. Courthope. |
| Eyres-Monsell, Bolton M. | Peel, Capt. R. F. (Woodbridge) |
§ Mr. WATSON RUTHERFORDI beg to move in paragraph 2 to leave out the word "later" ["not later than half-an-hour after the conclusion of Government business"], and to insert the word "earlier."
The effect of the Amendment is that each night after the business of the day is concluded we should have at least half-an-hour in which to discuss any matter of importance which might be raised upon the Adjournment, and we should not be subjected to the adjournment without Question put until the half-hour had been completely allowed for debate. I understand that that is the intention. I have communicated with the right hon. Gentleman on the other side, and he informs me that the intention is that the House should have the half-hour unless it agrees to the Adjournment earlier. If that is so, it is quite clear that Mr. Speaker ought not to put the Question until the half-hour is up, and the result is that the Motion ought to be exactly opposite to that which the Government have put down. If the Question has been agreed to, the House, of course, adjourns; but if this Question is not agreed to, then Mr. Speaker adjourns the House without Question not earlier than half-an-hour after the conclusion of Government business.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe effect of that would be that, although nobody else wished to remain, I should be kept in the Chair.
§ Mr. WATSON RUTHERFORDMay I point out with very great respect that, on the contrary, if the Motion is passed in the way it is put on the Paper, and supposing half-an-hour were occupied in discussion to which I take it the House would I be entitled, and you did not happen to rise within the thirty minutes, you would not be able to adjourn the House at all because the words of the order are explicit, that you are to adjourn the House not later than the half-hour, and as it is understood you are not to adjourn the House before the half-hour, Heaven only knows when you would adjourn it. I think, therefore, if the House is to carry out what is intended my Amendment should be accepted, and I am emboldened to move this Amendment by the hour which we have now reached. I do not think many of us are in a position to judge whether it is early or late. It is late if you look at it as yesterday, and it is rather early if you look at it as tomorrow.
§ Mr. SPEAKERI think the proposal as it stands on the Paper has been found to work. It is exactly the same thing which, I think, was in working last Session.
§ Main question put.
§ The House divided: Ayes 197, Noes, 92.
1029| Division No. 250.] | AYES. | [4.0 a.m. |
| Abraham, William (Dublin, Harbour) | Hackett, J. | O'Malley, William |
| Adamson, William | Hall, Frederick (Normanton) | O'Neill, Dr. Charles (Armagh, S.) |
| Allen, Arthur A. (Dumbarton) | Harcourt, Robert V. (Montrose) | O'Shaughnessy, P. J. |
| Allen, Rt. Hon. Charles P. (Stroud) | Harvey, T. E. (Leeds, W.) | O'Shee, James John |
| Arnold, Sydney | Harvey, W. E. (Derbyshire, N. E.) | O'Sullivan, Timothy |
| Barnes, George N. | Havelock-Allan, Sir Henry | Outhwaite, R. L. |
| Barton, William | Hayden, John Patrick | Palmer, Godfrey Mark |
| Beck, Arthur Cecil | Hayward, Evan | Pearce, Robert (Staffs, Leek) |
| Bonn, W. W. (T. H'mts., St. George) | Hazleton, Richard | Pease, Rt. Hon. Joseph A. (Rotherham) |
| Boland, John Pius | Healy, Maurice (Cork) | Phillips, John (Longford, S.) |
| Booth, Frederick Handel | Healy, Timothy Michael (Cork, N.E.) | Power, Patrick Joseph |
| Bowerman, Charles W. | Henderson, Arthur (Durham) | Price, C. E. (Edinburgh, Central) |
| Boyle, Daniel (Mayo, North) | Henry, Sir Charles | Price, Sir Robert J. (Norfolk, E.) |
| Brace, William | Higham, John Sharp | Primrose, Hon. Neil James |
| Brady, Patrick Joseph | Hinds, John | Pringle, William M. R. |
| Brecklehurst, William B. | Hobhouse, Rt. Hon. Charles E. H. | Raffan, Peter Wilson |
| Brunner, John F. L. | Howard, Hon. Geoffrey | Reddy, M. |
| Burke, E. Haviland- | Isaacs, Rt. Hon. Sir Rufus | Redmond, John E. (Waterford) |
| Byles, Sir William Pollard | John, Edward Thomas | Redmond, William Archer (Tyrone, E.) |
| Carr-Gomm, H. W. | Jones, H. Haydn (Merioneth) | Richards, Thomas |
| Cawley, H. T. (Lancs, Heywood) | Jones, William (Carnarvonshire) | Richardson, Thomas (Whitehaven) |
| Chancellor, H. G. | Joyce, Michael | Roberts, Charles H. (Lincoln) |
| Chapple, Dr. William Allen | Keating, Matthew | Roberts, George H. (Norwich) |
| Clancy, John Joseph | Kellaway, Frederick George | Robertson, John M. (Tyneside) |
| Clough, William | Kelly, Edward | Robinson, Sidney |
| Collins, Godfrey P. (Greenock) | Kennedy, Vincent Paul | Roche, Augustine (Louth) |
| Compton-Rickett, Rt. Hon. Sir J. | Kilbride, Denis | Rowlands, James |
| Condon, Thomas Joseph | King, Joseph | Russell, Rt. Hon. Thomas W. |
| Cornwall, Sir Edwin A. | Lamb, Ernest Henry | Samuel, Rt. Hon. H. L. (Cleveland) |
| Cotton, William Francis | Lambert, Richard (Wilts, Cricklade) | Samuel, J. (Stockton-on-Tees) |
| Crawshay-Williams, Eliot | Lardner, James Carrige Rushe | Scanlan, Thomas |
| Crean, Eugene | Law, Hugh A. (Donegal, W.) | Scott, A. MacCallum (Glas., Bridgeton) |
| Crumley, Patrick | Levy, Sir Maurice | Seely, Colonel Rt. Hon. J. E. B. |
| Cullinan, J. | Lewis, John Herbert | Sheehy, David |
| Davies, Timothy (Lincs., Louth) | Low, Sir Frederick (Norwich) | Sherwell, Arthur James |
| Davies, Sir W. Howell (Bristol, S.) | Lundon, Thomas | Shortt, Edward |
| Dawes, James Arthur | Lyell, Charles Henry | Simon, Sir John Allsebrook |
| Delany, William | Lynch, A. A. | Smith, Albert (Lancs., Clitheroe) |
| Doris, William | McGhee, Richard | Smyth, Thomas F. (Leitrim, S.) |
| Duffy, William J. | Macnamara, Rt. Hon. Dr. T. J. | Stanley, Albert (Staffs., N.W.) |
| Duncan, C. (Barrow-in-Furness) | MacNeill, John G. S. (Donegal, South) | Sutherland, John E. |
| Duncan, J. Hastings (York, Otley) | Macpherson, James Ian | Sutton, John E. |
| Elverston, Sir Harold | MacVeagh, Jeremiah | Taylor, John W. (Durham) |
| Esmonde, Dr. John (Tipperary, N.) | McKenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald | Taylor, T. C. (Radcliffe) |
| Esmonde, Sir Thomas (Wexford, N.) | M'Laren, Hon. F.W.S. (Lincs., Spalding) | Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton) |
| Essex, Richard Walter | Markham, Sir Arthur Basil | Toulmin, Sir George |
| Falconer, James | Marshall, Arthur Harold | Trevelyan, Charles Philips |
| Farrell, James Patrick | Meagher, Michael | Ure, Rt. Hon. Alexander |
| Ferens, Rt. Hon. Thomas Robinson | Meehan, Francis E. (Leitrim, N.) | Verney, Sir H. |
| Ffrench, Peter | Meehan, Patrick A. (Queen's Co.) | Wadsworth, John |
| Field, William | Molloy, Michael | Ward, John (Stoke-upon-Trent) |
| Fiennes, Hon. Eustace Edward | Mond, Sir Alfred M. | Ward, W. Dudley (Southampton) |
| Fitzgibbon, John | Mooney, John J. | Watt, Henry A. |
| Flavin, Michael Joseph | Morison, Hector | Webb, H. |
| Gelder, Sir William Alfred | Muldoon, John | White, J. Dundas (Glasgow, Tradeston) |
| George, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd | Munro, Robert | White, Sir Luke (York, E. R.) |
| Gilhooly, James | Murray, Captain Hon. Arthur C. | White, Patrick (Meath, North) |
| Gill, Alfred Henry | Nannetti, Joseph P. | Whyte, Alexander F. (Perth) |
| Ginnell, Laurence | Nolan, Joseph | Williams, Llewelyn (Carmarthen) |
| Gladstone, W. G. C. | O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny) | Williams, Penry (Middlesbrough) |
| Glanville, H. J. | O'Connor, John (Kildare, N.) | Wilson, W. T. (Westhoughton) |
| Goddard, Sir Daniel Ford | O'Connor, T. P. (Liverpool) | Winfrey, Richard |
| Greig, Colonel James William | O'Doherty, Philip | Wood, Rt. Hon. T. McKinnon (Glas.) |
| Giffith, Ellis J. | O'Dowd, John | Young, William (Perth, East) |
| Guest, Hon. Frederick E. (Dorset, E.) | Ogden, Fred | |
| Gulney, Patrick | O'Grady, James | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.—Mr. Illingworth and Mr. Gulland. |
| Gwynn, Stephen Lucius (Galway) | O'Kelly, Edward P. (Wicklow, W.) |
| NOES. | ||
| Ashley, W. W. | Butcher, John George | Courthope, George Loyd |
| Baird, John Lawrence | Carlile, Sir Edward Hildred | Craig, Charles Curtis (Antrim, S.) |
| Balcarres, Lord | Cassel, Felix | Craig, Captain James (Down, E.) |
| Banbury, Sir Frederick George | Castlereagh, Viscount | Craig, Norman (Kent, Thanet) |
| Barnston, Harry | Cator, John | Crichton-Stuart, Lord Ninian |
| Barrie, H. T. | Chaloner, Col. R. G. W. | Dickson, Rt. Hon. C. Scott |
| Benn, Arthur Shirley (Plymouth) | Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J. A. (Worc'r.) | Duke, Henry Edward |
| Bennett-Goldney, Francis | Chambers, James | Eyres-Monsell, B. M. |
| Boles, Lieut.-Col. Dennis Fortescue | Clive, Capt. Percy Archer | Fetherstonhanqh, Godfrey |
| Boyle, W. Lewis (Norfolk, Mid) | Clyde, James Avon | Fisher, Rt. Hon. W. Hayes |
| Bridgeman, William Clive | Coates, Major Sir Edward Feetham | Fleming, Valentine |
| Burn, Colonel C. R. | Cooper, Richard Ashmole | Forster, Henry William |
| Gordon, John (Londonderry, South) | Moore, William | Sykes, Alan John (Ches., Knutsford) |
| Gordon, Hon. John Edward (Brighton) | Morrison-Bell, Capt. E. F. (Ashburton) | Sykes, Mark (Hull, Central) |
| Henderson, Major H. (Berks, Abingdon) | Mount, William Arthur | Talbot, Lord Edmund |
| Hewins, William Albert Samuel | Neville, Reginald J. N. | Terrell, Henry (Gloucester) |
| Hill-Wood, Samuel | Paget, Almeric Hugh | Thompson, Robert (Belfast, North) |
| Hohler, G. F. | Pease, Herbert Pike (Darlington) | Thomson, W. Mitchell- (Down, N.) |
| Horne, Edgar (Surrey, Guildford) | Peel, Captain R. F. (Woodbridge) | Thynne, Lord Alexander |
| Kerr-Smiley, Peter Kerr | Pryce-Jones, Colonel E. | Tobin, Alfred Aspinall |
| Kyffin-Taylor, G. | Rawlinson, John Frederick Peel | Tryon, Capt. George Clement |
| Lane-Fox, G. R. | Rawson, Colonel Richard H. | Warde, Col. C. E. (Kent, Mid.) |
| Larmor, Sir J. | Roberts, S. (Sheffield, Ecclesall) | Wheler, Granville C. H. |
| Locker-Lampson, G. (Salisbury) | Ronaldshay, Earl of | White, Major G. D. (Lancs., Southport) |
| Locker-Lampson, O. (Ramsey) | Royds, Edmund | Williams, Col. R. (Dorset, W.) |
| Lonsdale, Sir John Brownlee | Salter, Arthur Clavell | Worthington-Evans, L. |
| Lyttelton, Hon. J. C. (Droltwich) | Sanders, Robert A. | Younger, Sir George |
| MacCaw, Wm. J. MacGeagh | Smith, Harold (Warrington) | |
| Macmaster, Donald | Stanler, Beville | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—Mr. Watson Rutherford and Mr. Arnold Ward. |
| McNeill, Ronald (Kent, St. Augustine's) | Stanley, Hon. G. F. (Preston) | |
| Malcolm, Ian | Starkey, John Ralph | |
| Mills, Hon. Charles Thomas | Stewart, Gershom |
§ Whereupon, Mr. SPEAKER, pursuant to the Order of the House this day, proposed the Question, "That this House do now adjourn."
1030§ Question put, and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at six minutes after Four o'clock a.m., Tuesday, 15th October, 1912.