§ EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTONMy Lords, I beg leave to make the Motion which stands in my name on the Order Paper, the reason of which I stated yesterday afternoon.
§ Moved, That Standing Order No. XXI be considered in order to its being suspended and that for the remainder of the session all Government Bills and Notices which are entered for consideration on the Minutes of the day shall have precedence of other Bills and Notices.—(Earl Curzon of Kedleston.)
§ VISCOUNT MIDLETONMy Lords, before the Motion is put, I want to ask the noble Earl the Leader of the House whether he is aware that among the measures which are to take precedence to-day, and which it is proposed to press, is one called the Ministry of Munitions Bill, which has the effect of perpetuating for all time the control of the Ministry of Munitions, not merely over the production of munitions, but over rules and orders that may be given for the diversion of production to peace conditions. We understood from the first that the Ministry of Munitions would disappear in its present form at the close of the war. To ask your Lordships to give precedence to a Bill of this kind on the last day of the session—a Bill, too, which we have never seen before—seems to me an extraordinary thing, and I hardly think that the noble Earl could have been aware of the nature of the Bill when he made this Motion. We shall be entirely in the hands of the Government if this Motion passes; and I really think, in the state of the House and without notice—because I will undertake to say that there is not a single one of the 650 Peers who might be here who is aware of such a measure—that to ask us to pass such a measure is hardly reasonable. I therefore ask the noble Earl whether he proposes to press this measure to the end.
§ EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTONYes, my Lords, I do; and I do so not merely on the general merits of the case, but because I believe that my noble friend Lord Midleton is mistaken in the interpretation which he places on the words of the Bill. However, when we come to the Bill my noble friend Lord Elphinstone, who is in charge of it, will make a full explanation of the matter, and will give the reasons for the statement that I have just made.
§ VISCOUNT MIDLETONIf it is necessary to treat the matter in that way, we are, of course, in the hands of the Leader of the House, but the only effect will be that if Lord Elphinstone's explanation is unsatisfactory, we shall be left without remedy because, in the state of the House, we have not got the power; and most assuredly, unless we can receive an indication that this measure will be of a temporary character, it will put us in a very difficult position, and force us to endeavour to put your Lordships in a difficult position.
§ EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTONI think that the noble Viscount had better wait to hear the explanation which will be given by my noble friend, and which, I think, will relieve the greater part of the apprehensions which he expresses.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.