§ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER (Mr. Bonar Law)I beg to move "That, until the House otherwise determines, and so far as the House does not otherwise determine, on every day on which the House sits—
- (1) Government Business to have precedence;
- (2) At the conclusion of Government Business 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 one hour after the conclusion of Government Business if that Business has been concluded before 10.30 p.m., but, if that Business has not been so concluded, not later than 11,30 p.m;
- (3) If the day be a Thursday the House shall at its rising stand adjourned until the following Monday;
- (4) Any Private Business set down for consideration at a quarter-past Eight o'clock on any day shall, if Government Business is concluded before that time, be taken at the conclusion of Government Business, and, for the purposes of the preceding provisions of this Order, shall be deemed to be Government Business;
- (5) All Select Committees, including Committees on Private Bills, shall have power to sit on Friday, and, if the House adjourns from Thursday or Friday till the following Tuesday, on Monday, notwithstanding the Adjournment of the House;
- (6) Whenever the House adjourns from Thursday to the following Monday or Tuesday, Members desiring to give Notice of Questions for Oral Answer on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday
301 may send Notices of such Questions to the Clerks at the Table, and any Notices of Questions so received by them before Five of the clock on a Friday or Monday shall be accepted as Notices of Questions for Oral Answer on the following Monday and Tuesday, or Wednesday, respectively, and be printed and circulated with the Votes; - {7) Whenever the House adjourns from Thursday to the following Monday or Tuesday, Members desiring to give notice of new Clauses and Amendments to Bills or of Amendments to Motions may send such Notices to the Clerks at the Table, and any such Notices received by them before Five of the clock on a Friday or Monday shall be printed and circulated with the Votes.
§ Mr. DILLONI want to ask a question as to procedure. I wish to move an Amendment, and I want to know whether the Resolution has to be read a second time or whether I may move my Amendment at once?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThis is the same Motion as was taken last year and a great part of it the year before. I think we could deal with the Amendment at once.
§ Mr. DILLONI beg to move to leave out the words "if that business has been concluded before 10.30 p.m., but, if that business has not been so concluded, not later than 11.30 p.m."
The effect of the Rule as it stands is that it will deprive Members of this opportunity, which is given to them to some extent as compensation for the loss of all their other privileges during these wartimes, of debating Motions for the Adjournment of the House. As the Motion now reads, if Government business goes on till eleven o'clock, as it very frequently does, the Motion for the Adjournment will be cut down to half an hour, and if the Eleven o'clock Rule were suspended and business went on after eleven o'clock, the Motion for the Adjournment, of course, would completely disappear. I do not think that is fair to hon. Members. It is taking back with one hand what is given with the other, and if there is any proportion of this House which is prepared to remain here and debate for an hour on the Adjournment Motion, they ought to be free to do it. There is a very easy remedy in the case where the Mem- 302 ber who proposes to Debate the Adjournment Motion has not got sufficient support in the House. He can be, and frequently is, counted out. But anyone who can obtain forty Members to support his Motion by remaining in the House certainly ought not to be deprived of his right to bring forward any subject. Hon. Members who recall what has occurred during the last two years, when important matters have been discussed on the Adjournment, will feel that this right ought not to be cut down. Sometimes I am inclined to ask what has become of the Ginger Groups? [An HON. MKMBEE: "They are all in the Government!"] I see several Members around me here who are still unofficial. They are not as active as they used to be. But who can tell? Fresh developments may take place, and, at all events, because the so-called Ginger Groups are absolutely silenced, that is no reason why other Members should be denied a small measure of liberty. I hope the Government will leave the matter to the judgment of the House. It is not one one in which they are really interested. I feel confident I shall get a good deal of support.
§ Mr. ASHLEYI have a great deal of sympathy with the Amendment, but I am inclined to think it goes too far. It is quite true that half an hour is a very short time for an important subject, and it gives absolutely no time, for anyone but the Mover and Seconder and the Ministerial answer to take part in the Debate, or to answer the Minister at all. But I think an hour is rather a large measure, especially after twelve o'clock at night. Would it not be possible to have a compromise and to give three-quarters of an hour?
§ Mr. PRINGLEI desire to support the Amendment, and I think, under all circumstances, the Government could quite safely concede an hour for the Adjournment Motion. Should the contingency arise against which the hon. Member wishes to provide I think he would find that a Member who desired the Adjournment would not be anxious to take it at that late hour of the evening. In nearly every case when a Member wishes to raise some matter upon the Adjournment he is anxious that it should be taken at as early an hour in the evening as possible, and consequently there is hardly ever any desire for the Adjournment when it extends beyond the ordinary hours of the sitting of the House. One effect of the 303 existing Rule is that there is a tendency for those representing the Government to keep the ordinary Debate going until after 10.30, so as to limit the opportunity of critics on the Motion for the Adjournment. I think this is an extremely deplorable result. I have no doubt the present Government, which desires to scrap all the evils which existed in the time of their predecessors, will never attempt anything of the kind, but I do not think it is fair to leave this temptation open to them.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWAs Mr. Speaker has pointed out, the Rule as it stands was in operation last year, and was practically in operation the year before, and I am sorry I cannot see my way to agree to the Amendment. It is not, as the hon. Member says, merely a question of the convenience of a certain number of Members who want to stay late at night. We have to consider the convenience of the officials of the House, and it seems to me the whole question is whether or not an adequate opportunity is given for the raising of subjects of this kind under the arrangement now existing. We can judge of this by what happened in the past. Very often the House rises long before the time. As to what has just been said by the hon. Member (Mr. Pringle), I never noticed any example of the Government keeping on business to avoid such discussion, and I cannot see any object in it. The hon. Member (Mr. Dillon) says there are no Ginger Groups. We have not been very long in operation this Session, and whether there are Ginger Groups or not I have no doubt there will be plenty of critics of the Government. The whole question is whether or not the Government will endeavour to meet the legitimate desire of Members of the House who have questions to raise which ought to be discussed. We had experience last year. There were, I think, forty-nine separate occasions on which Motions of this kind were raised in the House. The Government last Session gave a promise that whenever there was any subject on which there was a general desire for discussion an opportunity would be given, and on more than one occasion, when the state of public business permitted, a Minister himself moved the Adjournment in order that the House might have full and ample time to discuss a question of this kind. I am quite sure it would not be for the convenience of the House as a whole, nor 304 would it really be to the advantage of Members who wished to raise a special subject, that it should be discussed at that late hour of the evening, and I hope the House will agree that it is quite unnecessary to make a departure from the practice which has ruled so far in connection with the business of the House. I should like to repeat what I said the other day, that if there was a necessity for such regulations before, there is more need for them "now. The desire of the country, and I think of the House, is more completely fixed on the prosecution of the War than at any stage, and for that reason I should be surprised if the House of Commons did not think the Rules which were found to be desirable last Session would be found desirable this Session.
§ Commander WEDGWOODI cannot help thinking that most of the criticism that took place last Session on Adjournment Motions was brought forward with a view to the more effective prosecution of the War. It is not quite fair to attribute to those people who want to criticise the Executive that they are not as deeply imbued with the necessity of winning the War as even the Government themselves. The House of Commons has only one object, and I hardly think the Leader of the House is right in thinking that this criticism is not a whole-heartedly British criticism in favour of the success of the War.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI did not make such n suggestion.
§ Commander WEDGWOODI am very glad the right hon. Gentleman does not attribute that to the critics of the Government. The real question is, can we by any means get the voice of the country outside—not of Members of this House—to the ears of the Executive of this country? One of the results of the War has been an increase in the dealings of individuals in the country outside with Government Departments, and it is absolutely necessary that we, as intermediaries between the people of the country and Government Departments, should have ample opportunity of explaining to the Government the points of view of our Constituents. I do not think it is advisable to hamper in any way Members carrying out the views and wishes of their Constituents to the best of their ability. I heard the Leader of the House the other day say that anything that was brought forward by a sufficient body of opinion in the House would be afforded a day's 305 discussion, and that days would be given more readily than in the past, in order that discussion on topics of general interest might be carried on. That was a concession, and I was very glad to hear it from the right hon. Gentleman. But the subjects raised on the Adjournment of the House at night are questions, the importance of which cannot possibly be measured at the time by the Member who introduces them, or by the Government. They are not questions which have been brought much to the public notice in the newspapers. They are questions raised by a single Member, and it is only after discussion in this House that public interest in the question arises. It is for that reason that I would urge this additional relaxation of the war rules that has been moved by the hon. Member for Mayo. I hope he will press the Amendment, and I hope the Government will reconsider their decision, in view of the increasing need for contact between the public outside and the Government Departments.
§ Sir CHARLES HOBHOUSEMy hon. Friend who has just sat down, with whose arguments I find myself in complete agreement, has made an appeal to the Front Bench on behalf of the public outside. I wish to make an appeal on behalf of Members who are inside this House, and for this reason. The Chancellor of Exchequer quoted the example which has been followed by this House by the Government of 1914 and the Government of 1915, but there is a vast difference between these two Governments and the existing Government in this respect, that the two preceding Governments were responsible, as Governments ought to be responsible, to this House for the conduct of public business. This Government has withdrawn a very great deal of the control of Parliament from the management of public affairs.
§ Sir C. HOBHOUSEIn my judgment, by the disappearance of the Prime Minister from this House, and the fact that the Cabinet which manages the affairs of State is largely composed of those who are not responsible to this House, and are not members of it. In my judgment that differentiates the existing Government from its predecessors. I think it is a most regrettable difference, and if this Motion goes to a Division I shall support it.
§ Mr. FIELDI know the House is not anxious to discuss this question at any length, but there are some Members who-avoid discussion. They forget entirely what their great leader, Lord Beacons-field, said, that a cause which will not bear discussion is lost. As an old Member, I want to say that by degrees the few opportunities which a private Member has of doing anything in this House are gradually being taken from them on one excuse or another. The Cabinet at the present time is more powerful in this House of Commons than the Czar of Russia is in his own country. A private Member has little chance of opening his mouth. I have gone into this matter, and I find that 90 per cent, of the time of the House is taken up by right hon. Gentlemen or someone connected with the Government. I would advise the hon. Member for Mayo to divide the House on this question, because we ought to have the courage of our convictions. If private Members are to be here to support the Government, they ought to have some opportunity of voicing the opinions of their Constituents and of the public outside. Motions for the Adjournment of the House are practically the only opportunities that are given to a private Member to bring forward matters which affect his constituency, or which may have a great deal to do with the care of public business. On most topics we are not allowed to talk.
§ Mr. LOUGHI desire to support, at any rate, the spirit of the Amendment. My object in rising is to suggest to the Government a method by which they can meet the Amendment. Attention might be given by the Government to the argument brought forward by my right hon. Friend (Mr. Hobhouse), namely, that in this new Government we have three of the most important Ministers who are not Members of this House.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is hardly relevant to the Question now before the House.
§ Mr. LOUGHI accept your ruling, Mr. Speaker. At any rate, I might say that the number of Ministers who are not directly responsible to this House is more numerous than before, and, as my right hon. Friend pointed out, the necessities of the House of Commons are greater under these circumstances than before. Coming to the Question before the House I think the matter would be met if the Government would undertake to move the Adjournment at 10.30. We should then have 307 at least one hour in which to consider matters raised on the Motion for the Adjournment, and considering the many occasions during the last two years when the House adjourned before 10.30, I do think that during the abnormal conditions that prevail the Government might undertake to move the Adjournment at 10.30.
§ Mr. LOUGHThat is the most useless half-hour in our debates. Very often it has not been used. If the Government would undertake to move the Adjournment at 10.30 it could be done by a very slight change in the Rules. It is a very reasonable change to make.
§ Mr. FRANCEI support this Amendment both in the spirit and in the flesh. Since the House reassembled the Leader of the House has on two occasions, when asked by private Members to allow them to retain some of their privileges, offered them very generously something else. I appreciate as much as any lion. Member the offer which he has made that on important occasions when any large section of the House desires to debate a question a day will be given; but I wish to add emphasis to what has been said, that there are matters intimately connected with the successful conduct of the War
§ which can with advantage be discussed on the Adjournment Motion. If such an occasion does arise as has been indicated by the hon. Member for Mayo, the half-hour after eleven which is only allowed by the Motion on the Paper is not sufficient for adequate discussion. The whole question is whether there should be an extra half-hour after 11.30. Is it conceivable that there is any Member so unpatriotic as to desire to keep the House for an extra half-hour unless there is ample reason for discussion? Is it conceivable that forty Members would support him in that rash act? My experience of the House is that forty hon. Members would not be likely to do so. We heard a speech the other day from a gallant Member who said he was accustomed to give orders and not to receive answers, and it seems to me that when a matter is raised in the half-hour after eleven o'clock there is much of the tendency on the part of the Government to give their reply and not to wait for any answer to be given to them. I heartily support the Amendment.
§ Colonel YATEThe hon. Member for Dublin (Mr. Field) made a reference to Conservative members. As a Conservative, I shall vote against this Amendment. Nothing on earth will ever induce me to vote for a private Member being able to keep the House night after night after 11.30.
§ Question put, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question."
§ The House divided: Ayes, 170; Noes, 64.
309| Division No. 1.] | AYES. | [4.38 p.m. |
| Agg-Gardner, Sir James Tynto | Cator, John | Hamilton, Lord C. J. (Kensington, S.) |
| Astor, Hon. Waldorf | Cave, Rt. Hon. Sir George | Hanson, Charles Augustin |
| Baldwin, Stanley | Cecil, Evelyn (Aston Manor) | Harmsworth, Cecil (Luton, Beds) |
| Banbury, Rt. Hon. Sir F. G. | Cecil,Rt.Hon.Lord Robert(Herts,Hitchin) | Harmsworth, R. L. (Caithness) |
| Barnes, Rt. Hon. George N. | Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J. A. | Harris, Rt. Hon. F. L. (Worcester, E.) |
| Barnett, Captain R. W. | Coates, Major Sir Edward Feetham | Harris, H. P. (Paddington, S.) |
| Barran, Sir J. N. (Hawick Burghs) | Coats, Sir Stuart A. (Wimbledon) | Hemmerde, Edward George |
| Bathurst, Col. Hon. A. B. (Glouc., E.) | Collins, Sir Stephen (Lambeth) | Henderson, Rt. Hon. Arthur (Durham) |
| Bathurst, Capt. Charles (Wilts, Wilton) | Collins, Sir W. (Derby) | Henry, Sir Charles |
| Beck, Arthur Cecil | Cornwall, Sir Edwin A. | Herbert, Hon. A. (Somerset, S.) |
| Bellairs, Commander C. W. | Craig, Ernest (Cheshire, Crewe) | Hewins, William Albert Samuel |
| Benn, Arthur S. (Plymouth) | Craig, Col. James (Down, E.) | Hickman, Colonel Thomas E. |
| Bigland, Alfred | Craik, Sir Henry | Hodge, John |
| Blake, Sir Francis Douglas | Currie, George W. | Hohler, Gerald Fitzroy |
| Blair, Reginald | Denniss, E. R. B. | Holmes, Daniel Turner |
| Bliss, Joseph | Duke, Rt. Hon. Henry Edward | Hope, John Deans (Haddington) |
| Boscawen, Sir Arthur S. T. Griffith- | Elverston, Sir Harold | Hope, James Fitzalan (Sheffield) |
| Bowden, Major G. R. Harland | Fisher, Rt. Hon. W. Hayes | Howard, Hon. Geoffrey |
| Bowerman, Rt. Hon. C. W. | Fletcher, John Samuel | Hughes, Spencer Leigh |
| Boyle, William (Norfolk, Mid) | Forster, Henry William | Hunt, Major Rowland |
| Bridgeman, William Clive | Ganzoni, Francis John C. | Hunter, Sir C. R. |
| Broughton, Urban Hanion | Goulding, Sir Edward Alfred | Illingworth, Albert H. |
| Brunner, John F. L. | Griffith, Rt. Hon. Ellis Jones | Ingleby, Holcombe |
| Bryce, J. Annan | Guinness, Hon. Rupert (Essex, S E.) | Jackson, Lt.-Col. Hon. F. S. (York) |
| Burgoyne, A. H. | Gulland, John William | Jacobsen, Thomas Owen |
| Burn, Colonel C. R. | Hall, D. B. (Isle of Wight) | Jones, J. Towyn (Carmarthen, East) |
| Butcher, John George | Hambro, Angus Valdemar | Jones, William S Glyn- (Stepney) |
| Johnston, Christopher N. | Munro, Rt. Hon. Robert | Smith, Sir Swire (Keighley, Yorks) |
| Kiley, James Daniel | Newman John R. P. | Spicer, Rt. Hon, Sir Albert |
| Kinloch-Cooke, Sir Clement | Nicholson, William G. (Petersfield) | Stanley, Major Hon. G. F. (Preston) |
| Lambert, Rt. Hon. G. (Devon,S.Molton) | Nield, Herbert | Stewart, Gershom |
| Larmor, Sir J. | Norman, Sir Henry | Strauss, Arthur (Paddington, North) |
| Law, Rt. Hon. A. Bonar (Bootle) | Orde-Powlett, Hon. W. G. A. | Strauss, Edward A. (Southwark, West) |
| Lewis, Rt. Hon. John Herbert | Paget, Almeric Hugh | Sykes, Sir Mark (Hull, Central) |
| Lloyd, George Butler (Shrewsbury) | Palmer, Godfrey Mark | Tennant, Rt. Hon. Harold John |
| Locker-Lampson, G. (Salisbury) | Partington, Oswald | Terrell, George (Wilts, N.W.) |
| Lockwood, Rt. Hon Lt.-Colonel A. R. | Pearce, Sir Robert (Staffs, Leek) | Thompson, Rt. Hon. R. (Belfast, N.) |
| Lonsdale, Sir John Brownlee | Pearce, Sir William (Limehouse) | Thorne, G. R. (Wolverhampton) |
| Lowe, Sir F. W. (Birm., Edgbaston) | Pollock, Ernest Murray | Tickler, T. G. |
| M'Calmont, Lieut.-Col. Robert C. A. | Pratt, J. W. | Valentia, Viscount |
| McKenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald | Prothero, Rt. Hon. Roland Edmund | Wardle, George J. |
| Maclean, Rt. Hon. Donald | Radford, Sir George Heynes | Wason, Rt. Hon. E. (Clackmannan) |
| Macmaster, Donald | Rawson, Colonel Richard H. | Whiteley, Herbert J. |
| M'Micking, Major Gilbert | Rea, Walter Russell (Scarborough) | Whittaker, Rt. Hon. Sir Thomas P. |
| Macnamara, Rt. Hon. Dr. T. J. | Rees, Sir J. D. (Nottingham, E.) | Williams, Aneurin (Durham, N.W.) |
| McNeill, Ronald (Kent, St. Augustine's) | Reid, Rt. Hon. Sir George H. | Winfrey, Sir Richard |
| Macpherson, James Ian | Roberts, George H. (Norwich) | Wing, Thomas Edward |
| Malcolm, Ian | Roberts, S (Sheffield, Ecclesall) | Wolmer, Viscount |
| Mallalieu, Frederick William | Rowlands, James | Wood, Rt. Hon. T. McKinnon (Glasgow) |
| Marks, Sir George Croydon | Runciman, Rt. Hon. Walter (Dewsbury) | Worthington-Evans, Major Sir L. |
| Mason, James F. (Windsor) | Rutherford, Watson (W. Derby) | Yate, Colonel Charles Edward |
| Meux, Hon. Sir Hedworth | Salter, Arthur Clavell | Young, William (Perthshire, East) |
| Mond, Rt. Hon. Sir Alfred | Samuel, Rt. Hon. Sir Harry (Norwood) | Younger, Sir George |
| Montagu, Rt. Hon. E. S. | Samuel, Rt. Hon. H. L. (Cleveland) | Yoxall, Sir James Henry |
| Moore, William | Samuel, Samuel (Wandsworth) | |
| Morgan, George Hay | Samuels, A. W. | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.— |
| Morison, Thomas B. (Inverness) | Scott, A. MacCallum (Glas., Bridgeton) | Lord Edmund Talbot and Mr. Primrose |
| Morton, Alpheus Cleophas | Shaw, Hon. A. | |
| NOES. | ||
| Anderson, W. C. | Jowett, Frederick William | Outhwaite, R. L. |
| Bentinck, Lord H. Cavendish- | Joyce, Michael | Ponsonby, Arthur A. W. H. |
| Byles, Sir William Pollard | Keating, Matthew | Pringle, William M. R. |
| Byrne, Alfred | King, Joseph | Richardson, Thomas (Whitehaven) |
| Chancellor, Henry George | Lambert, Richard (Wilts, Cricklade) | Roch, Walter F. (Pembroke) |
| Collins, Godfrey P. (Greenock) | Law, Hugh A. (Donegal, West) | Scanlan, Thomas |
| Condon, Thomas Joseph | Lough, Rt Hon. Thomas | Seely, Lt.-Col. Sir C. H. (Mansfield) |
| Cosgrave, James | Lundon, Thomas | Sherwell, Arthur James |
| Crumley, Patrick | Lynch, Arthur Alfred | Shortt, Edward |
| Davies, Timothy (Lincs., Louth) | Macdonald, J. Ramsay (Leicester) | Smith, H. B. Lees (Northampton) |
| Dawes, James Arthur | McGhee, Richard | Snowden, Philip |
| Donelan, Captain A. | M'Laren, Hon.F.W.S. (Lincs, Spalding) | Thorne, William (West Ham) |
| Esmonde, Sir Thomas (Wexford, N.) | MacNeill, J. G. Swift (Donegal, South) | Toulmin, Sir George |
| Field, William | Mason, David M. (Coventry) | Trevelyan, Charles Philips |
| Flavin, Michael Joseph | Mooney, John J. | Walton, Sir Joseph |
| France, Gerald Ashburner | Nolan, Joseph | White, J. Dundas (Glasgow, Tradeston) |
| Goldstone, Frank | O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny) | White, Patrick (Meath, North) |
| Hackett, John | O'Connor, John (Kildare, N.) | Whitty, Patrick Joseph |
| Harris, Percy A. (Leicester, S.) | O'Connor, T. P. (Liverpool) | Wilson, W. T. (Westhoughton) |
| Hayden, John Patrick | O'Doherty, Philip | |
| Hobhouse, Rt. Hon. Sir Charles E. H. | O'Neill, Dr. Charles (Armagh, S.) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—Mr. |
| Hogge, James Myles | O'Shaughnessy, P. J. | Dillon and Commander Wedgwood |
| Holt, Richard Durning |
Question put, and agreed to.
§ Main Question again proposed.
§ Mr. R. McNEILLI desire to ask a question with regard to this Motion. Last Session the Government very kindly, at my suggestion, acceded to the request that Question Time should be extended until four o'clock. I do not know whether it is the intention of the Government to do the same thing this Session, or whether it is necessary to do so. There is nothing about it in the Resolution.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWAs the House knows, the arrangement made last Session applied only to last Session, and my own view, and I the view of the Government, was that it threw on the servants of the different Departments too great a strain and that it would not be desirable to adopt it again.
§ Sir WALTER ESSEXIn reference to the proposal made in Clause 4 on the subject of private business, and the decision of the Government not to allow private Members to introduce Bills, may I refer to what I said the other day on the subject of public questions which the Government did not care to take up—as, for instance, to deal with questions affecting the destruction of food for the manufacture of drink—being brought before this House by a private Member, or Members, to be dealt with. Can nothing be done on this matter? If some little borough of some 20,000 inhabitants wants to add half a mile to a sewer or widen a thoroughfare it can introduce a Bill into this House and occupy the time of this House, whereas private Members 311 cannot introduce any Bill on subjects of general public importance. I do protest at this juncture at the restrictions which have been laid upon legislation being proposed by private Members, while facilities are given for, in many cases, far less important measures. In addition I may point out that last Session several private Bills were brought in—apparently unimportant Bills—which were not only unimportant, but which contained a provision, that in some cases was doubtless adopted, that they should not be operative until after the close of the War. In such a case it seems to me that they had no right whatever to take up the time of the House.
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI quite agree with my hon. Friend that Bills of the kind, if they do not come into operation until after the War, should not take up the time of the House. I had not, of course, any opportunity of looking into the matter, but I am under the impression that last year the Chairman of Ways and Means himself adopted the course of advising the promoters of private Bills not to proceed with them in such cases. On the subject of Bills affecting questions of public interest, and with which the Government is not willing to deal, I am afraid that the chances of such a method of dealing with these Bills as has been suggested resulting in legislation would be small. But in this particular case, on the method of procedure, I think I may say that if the Government thought there was any chance of the House, apart from the Government, taking the matter into its own hands, the Government, I believe, would not be unwilling to consider the matter.
§ Ordered, "That, until the House otherwise determines, and so far as the House does not otherwise determine, on every day on which the House sits —
- (1) Government Business do have precedence;
- (2) At the conclusion of Government Business 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 one hour after the conclusion of Government Business if that Business has been concluded before 10.30 p.m., but, if that Business has not been so concluded, not later than 11.30 p.m;
- (3) If the day be a Thursday the House shall at its rising stand adjourned until the following Monday;
- (4) Any Private Business set down for consideration at a quarter-past Eight o'clock on any day shall, if Government Business is concluded before that time, be taken at the conclusion of Government Business, and, for the purposes of the preceding provisions of this Order, shall be deemed to be Government Business;
- (5) All Select Committees, including Committees on Private Bills, shall have power to sit on Friday, and, if the House adjourns from Thursday or Friday till the following Tuesday, on Monday, notwithstanding the Adjournment of the House;
- (6) Whenever the House adjourns from Thursday to the following Monday or Tuesday, Members desiring to give Notice of Questions for Oral Answer on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday may send Notices of such Questions to the Clerks at the Table, and any Notices of Questions so received by them before Five of the clock on a Friday or Monday shall be accepted as Notices of Questions for Oral Answer on the following Monday and Tuesday, or Wednesday, respectively, and be printed and circulated with the Votes;
- (7) Whenever the House adjourns from Thursday to the following Monday or Tuesday, Members desiring to give notice of new Clauses and Amendments to Bills or of Amendments to Motions may send such Notices to the Clerks at the Table, and any such Notices received by them before Five of the clock on a Friday or Monday shall be printed and circulated with the Votes.