THE EARL OF CARNARVONMy Lords, I desire, in a very few words, to call the attention of my noble Friend the noble Duke (the Duke of Marlborough) to a statement which, though I did not so understand him at the time, he is reported to have made last night, but which I am sure he will, on my explanation, feel was not consistent with the fact. My noble Friend the noble Duke, in the remarks he made in answer to what had fallen from me, is reported to have said that the Bill which was called "the Ten Minutes Bill," in which a £6 rating franchise was proposed, was introduced at my suggestion. My Lords, I do not know upon what authority the noble Duke stated this; but I wish clearly to say for myself, as I have said before, that though I acquiesced in the intention of bringing forward that measure, my acquiescence was a reluctant acquiescence; and I certainly was not, in any sense or in any degree, the author of that "Ten Minutes Bill."
§ THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGHWhat I was reported to have stated to your Lordships was, that the noble Earl who has just addressed us proposed a Bill which has been designated "the Ten Minutes Bill." I was misreported in that respect. I did not state that the noble Earl proposed that Bill; what I did state was, that the Bill was proposed in order to meet the views of the noble Earl, and those of his Colleagues who left Lord Derby's Government, and consequently that he was a party to and approved that measure.
THE EARL OF CARNARVONThat Bill, as I distinctly stated on a previous occasion, was neither in accordance with my own views nor with the views of those of my Colleagues who seceded from the Cabinet.