BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. (Hansard, 8 August 1914)

THE LORD PRIVY SEAL AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (THE MARQUESS OF CREWE)
Your Lordships will remember that yesterday I stated that I should be in a position on Monday to speak on the question of the rising of the House. However, I am able to do so somewhat sooner than I anticipated; and, as noble Lords may have gathered from what was said at a later hour in the House of Commons yesterday, I shall on Monday propose an adjournment of this House for a fortnight, which, of course, will be without prejudice of any kind to any future Parliamentary or sessional arrangements. There will simply be an adjournment for a fortnight. On that a question arises. I should hope that there would be no need for the House to meet in the interval, but as matters now stand, even if it was so desired, it would not be possible to do so without violating in a marked manner all our rules and traditions. For example, it was extremely urgent, in connection with the Bill relating to bills of exchange, that we should meet at short notice on a particular day. It happened on the Monday—August 3—that the House was sitting judicially, and my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor was able to announce at that sitting that the House would meet for public business in the afternoon. But the House, during an adjournment, would not be sitting judicially, and it would be impossible for him to take that step. I therefore propose on Monday to move the 480 following Sessional Order, which will be placed on the Paper for that day— That whenever during the present session of Parliament the House stands adjourned for more than two days, and it appears to the satisfaction of the Lord Chancellor that the public interest requires that the House should meet at any earlier time during such adjournment, the Lord Chancellor may give notice to the Peers that he is so satisfied, and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as if it had been duly adjourned to that time. I think the House will agree that a provision of that kind cannot possibly be abused, whilst it would certainly be to the general convenience and tend to keep our proceedings on those orderly lines on which we always desire them to work.

§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE
My Lords, the case which the noble Marquess made just now in favour of the proposed new Sessional Order seemed to me to be on the whole a strong one, and. I gather that it is intended that there will be limiting words which will make it applicable only to the present session. At this moment we are passing through a period of emergency, and it would be most inconvenient that there should be no power of reassembling the House if urgent matters required it to be reassembled. But that would be a very different thing from making this a part of the permanent machinery of the House. I am therefore glad to learn from the noble Marquess that the Order is proposed for this session and for this session only.

THE MARQUESS OF CREWE
That certainly is so; and I agree with the noble Marquess that the notion of making this a part of our permanent procedure would demand a very great deal of consideration.