§ LORD NEWTONMy Lords, may I take advantage of the Motion for the adjournment of the House to bring forward a small matter in connection with the methods in which Divisions are taken here. When there is a big Division considerable inconvenience and congestion and loss of time—not that time is very valuable here—are caused by the fact that everybody has to come back into this House in order to pass the Tellers. I desire to make the House a present of this very simple suggestion, which I think would remove the difficulty. If the Tellers in taking the votes, instead of taking up their places inside the doors of this House, would stand in the Division Lobbies there would be no congestion at all, because everybody would pass straight out either to the outside of the House or anywhere he felt disposed. I should like to point out that a noble Lord having once given his vote one way or the other is of no further interest to anybody whatsoever, and it does not in the least matter what becomes of him. This simple principle was realised in the House of Commons long ago, and has been adopted there with success. I am quite sure that if the noble Marquess opposite will consult with the noble Marquess behind him (the Lord Great Chamberlain) and with the officials of this House who are responsible for the arrangements here it will be found that the suggestion which I propose can be carried out without any difficulty whatsoever.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEMy Lords, I certainly have no wish to give an unsympathetic reception to the suggestion which the noble Lord opposite has made. No doubt it occurs sometimes that on the not very frequent occasions when we have a number of large Divisions in this House what appears to be an unusual and needless amount of time is spent in taking a Division. So far as we on this side of the House are concerned we are seldom troubled by so great a plethora of numbers as causes us to be detained for any great length of time in the Lobby. But I shall be most happy, assuming that the idea commends itself to the House generally, to take into consultation my noble friend behind me, the Lord Great Chamberlain, and also the noble Lords opposite who take a special interest in the conduct of the business of the House. I confess that I am not quite certain from what fell from the noble Lord precisely how it is proposed that time should be saved. I take it that his proposition is something of this kind, that on the Division being called the Tellers should immediately place themselves at the further end of the Lobby, and that there should be no waiting for the House to be cleared and for all the Peers of one particular view to be packed into the particular Lobby before the Division begins, but that the moment the doors are locked—because I suppose the noble Lord would not propose to dispense with that ceremony?
§ LORD NEWTONNo.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEThat then it would be open to any Peer to walk through the Lobby and immediately emerge and take his place in the House again.
§ LORD NEWTONThey would all go outside first.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWEThat would save a certain amount of time, because in the case of the Division which took place last night there was a considerable interval before the House was emptied and the counting began to take place. It is not easy to calculate what the saving in time would be, but I can conceive that it might be on those particular occasions considerable. Therefore, as I say, I am quite disposed to give a favourable reception to the recommendation of the noble Lord provided that the House in general are inclined to accept it.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, the noble Marquess observed with great truth that the inconvenience is one which is more frequently experienced in our Lobby than in his. Having regard to a statement which I understand was made in the House of Commons yesterday by the Prime Minister, it is conceivable that that inconvenience, even so far as we are concerned, may not be one which will be of any very long duration. But there is undoubtedly a considerable and rather unseemly crowding on the occasions of our larger Divisions, and it seems to me that an effort might very well be made to mitigate that inconvenience. I have had some conversation with my noble friend on the Back Bench, and I cannot help thinking that we might do well to ask him to confer with the officers of the House, and they may perhaps be able to submit to us some plan which would get rid of the difficulty that we at present experience.
§ LORD NEWTONThe noble Marquess has not grasped, 1 am afraid, the chief advantage of my plan, which is that a noble Lord having voted will be able to leave the House and disappear altogether.
§ House adjourned at a quarter before Seven o'clock, till To-morrow, Two o'clock.