§ * THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEBefore we proceed to the business on the Paper, perhaps I may ask the noble Earl the Lord President of the Council whether he can give the House any information with regard to the course of business during the not too many days which remain to us between the present date and the Christmas holidays.
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (The Earl of CREWE)I greatly regret the absence of my noble 862 friend the Leader of the House, who, I am sorry to say, is unwell, though I hope not seriously, and I trust he will be in his place, at any rate, at the beginning of next week. As the noble Marquess is aware, to-morrow we propose to take the Third Reading of the Education Bill, and, as it is possible that that may not lead to very long discussion, we are placing on the Paper the Town Tenants (Ireland) Bill for Second Reading, and we hope we may be able to make some progress with that measure. On Monday, the 10th, we propose to put down the Committee stage of the Trade Disputes Bill, and also the Merchant Shipping Bill (Committee) in case there should be time to deal with it. On Tuesday, the 11th, the Second Reading of the Plural Voting Bill and the Merchant Shipping Bill (Committee) will be taken; on Wednesday, the 12th, the Town Tenants Bill (Committee); on Thursday, the 13th, the Land Tenure Bill (Committee). That is as far as I am able to inform the House at present, but in view of the amount of business before us it is very possible that we may have to ask your Lordships to sit on Fridays—not next Friday, but on the remaining Fridays during the session—with a view of doing what I am sure we are all anxious to do, viz., winding up the business of the House before Christmas.
I may remind your Lordships that one or two circumstances have been somewhat against us in the allocation of business during these autumn sittings. In the first place, nobody anticipated that the Education Bill would take quite so long in Committee as it did. I only hope that no failure of mine led to its taking longer than was anticipated. As your Lordships are aware, the Committee stage was unprecedented in length, nearly three times as long as that of any other Bill which has ever been before this House, and I think we could hardly have been expected to foresee that that would happen. In addition to that, the greatly regretted absence of my noble and learned friend on the Woolsack prevented us from dealing with the Trade Disputes Bill as early as we might have done, and the Plural Voting Bill was in turn delayed in its passage through this House by the illness of Mr. Harcourt. Therefore, if we have to ask your Lordships to sit on Fridays, I hope the House will agree 863 that it is not entirely our fault, but that we have been to some extent the victims of circumstances. In the event of our sitting on Fridays, I have no doubt it would be for the convenience of your Lordships that we should sit early in the day, perhaps at twelve o'clock, in order to enable those of your Lordships who desired to do so to leave London in the course of the afternoon.
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWNI should like to ask the noble Earl, supposing we sit on Fridays, and we have to sit after Christmas, when does he propose that we should adjourn for the Christmas holidays?
§ THE EARL OF CREWEI am unfortunately not in a position to answer that Question. The object of the Friday sittings is to avoid sitting after Christmas, and I am not able off-hand to name the date on which we hope Parliament will be prorogued.
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWNMight I ask further whether it is proposed to bring up to this House any more Bills other than those now before us?
§ THE EARL OF CREWEAs far as I can say without referring, there are certainly two measures which, in the natural course of things, would come before your Lordships, namely, the Workmen's Compensation Bill and the Provision of Meals for School Children Bill.