§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEBefore the House adjourns I should like to ask the noble Marquess who leads the House to tell us whether, assuming that we are adjourning for the holidays on Thursday next, he intends to invite us to reassemble in the month of January, and, if so, at what time.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEAs your Lordships will have observed, there is no business on the Paper beyond Thursday next, and I therefore propose that on that day we should adjourn for the Christmas holiday. It will be necessary, of course, for us to meet fairly early in January in view of the business which is likely to come up to us at that time from the House of Commons. The first important measure 157 which we should expect to receive is the Government of Ireland Bill, and it would undoubtedly be your Lordships' wish that that Bill should be read a first time as soon as it reaches this House so that it may be placed at once in your Lordships' hands. It is impossible at this moment to state precisely the day on which that measure will reach us, but so far as other business is concerned and bearing in mind the probabilities in respect to that measure I think I can state for the information of the House that the first effective day for business, for which one or two Motions have been placed on the Paper, would 158 probably be Tuesday, January 14. Supposing it should be the case that the Government of Ireland Bill should reach us a day or two before that, it would be convenient, I have no doubt, to arrange for a formal sitting of the House so that the Bill could be read a first time and printed. But so far as effective business is concerned, I think we can venture to conclude that Tuesday, January 14, will be the first day.
§ House adjourned at twenty minutes before Six o'clock, till To-morrow, a quarter past Four o'clock.