§ Motion made, and Question proposed,
§ "That a sum, not exceeding £15,785, be granted to His Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1916, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Offices of the House of Lords." [NOTE.— £20,000 has been voted on account.]
§ Mr. HOGGESomething does require explanation on this Vote. The House of Lords has had a special discussion, introduced, I believe, by Lord Midleton, on the necessity for economy, and here is an Estimate put before us whereby we are asked to provide £8,798 more than we provided last year for this effete institution.
§ Mr. HOGGEMay I substitute "respectable" in place of "effete"? If the right hon. Gentleman will Took at the Estimate he will see that the salaries of the Department of the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod have been increased from £4,255 to £4,305. In a time of national economy, and of grave necessity for it, it does seem ridiculous that for all the ceremonial observance that this House sees of that particular office we should require to find an extra £50. Why is it that it requires an extra £150 to police the House of Lords? Has the House of Lords become less amenable to discipline? Have its Members become more disorderly in their ways that it requires the provision of £150 additional expense to police the House of Lords? That, surely, is an item of expenditure which reflects great discredit upon an institution the officers of which we are discussing now. That House meets much less frequently than we meet. This is another moral problem. Moral problems have been cropping up all the afternoon, and I would ask the right hon. Gentleman to explain this particular moral problem.
§ Mr. MONTAGUI should much like to satisfy my hon. Friend, but in the time that he has given me it would prove a very difficult task.
§ Question put, and agreed to.
§ It being Ten of the clock, the CHAIRMAN proceeded, pursuant to Standing Order No. 15, to put the Question necessary to dispose of the Vote under consideration.
§ Question agreed to.
§ The CHAIRMAN then proceeded to put severally the Questions, That the total amounts of the Votes outstanding in Classes 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the Civil Services Estimates, including Supplementary Estimates, and the total amounts of the Votes outstanding in the Estimates for the Navy and the Army, and the Revenue Departments, be granted for the Services defined in those Classes and Estimates:—