§ LORD NEWTONMy Lords, I beg to ask His Majesty's Government if it is intended to appoint a Committee to consider the question of the sittings of Parliament; and, if so, whether this House will be represented upon it. I placed this Question on the Paper in consequence of a statement which I observed a few days ago in The Times. Fortunately, owing to a change of management and of proprietorship, The Times has again become an important and responsible organ and anything that it publishes with regard to political questions deserves to be treated wth respect. I have always observed that it is well informed, and I have no doubt that upon this occasion the information is correct.
The reason why I have drawn attention to this announcement is this. I observed to my surprise that it was proposed to appoint a Select Committee of the House of Commons to consider this question in consultation with the authorities of the House of Lords. Now, what does this phrase mean? Who are the authorities of the House of Lords? Does it mean the Lord Chancellor and the Chairman of Committees, or does it mean the officials of this House? I have personally a great respect for them all. I have a great respect for my noble friend at present occupying the Woolsack, and I have, if possible, even greater respect for the officials of this House whom I look 563 upon as amongst the most meritorious and obliging of mankind. But what I desire to point out is that this is by no means sufficient. If there is to be a Committee which is to consider the question of the sittings of Parliament it seems to me that the persons who ought to be on that Committee are representatives of the members of this House, and it is not sufficient to appoint a Committee which presumably will call as witnesses some of the gentlemen to whom I have just alluded.
It so happens that this is a question in which I have been considerably interested, and from time to time I have succeeded in inducing this House to pass various Resolutions, none of which, I may add, have ever had the smallest attention paid to them. It is a matter of great satisfaction to me to see that this question is at last, according to The Times, to be brought before a Committee of some kind or other, and I have no doubt that the hoary myth which still exists that the House of Commons consists of hunting men will receive its death blow. That is a myth or superstition which has governed the sittings of Parliament and the movements of society in London, and the time has now arrived when, in my opinion, the death blow ought to be dealt to it. I have no doubt that will be the case. What I really rose to ask my noble friend who is leading the House was whether, if the statement is correct that a Committee is going to be appointed for the purpose of considering this matter, this House will be adequately represented upon it.
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY)My Lords, I always have the greatest sympathy with my noble friend, and I have very special sympathy with him when he is acting as a vigilant guardian of the rights of your Lordships' House. May I assure him—and I know that he will be delighted to hear it—that he is not the only vigilant guardian of our rights, and that there are several noble Lords upon this Bench who are at least equally anxious to see that nothing affecting Parliament, as a whole, shall be carried into effect without due consideration of the opinions which your Lordships may have, and may desire to express. The information which has reached my noble friend is only partially correct. It is 564 true that there is a movement to consider again the question of the period during which Parliamentary sittings should be held, but it is not true that the Government ever contemplated that the matter should be confined to the attention of a Committee consisting of members of one House only. The Government have considered the subject because it was put before them by a very influential section of opinion in the House of Commons, and they have resolved to recommend to both Houses of Parliament the appointment of a Joint Select Committee to consider this question.
It is a strictly limited question. We do not think that any useful purpose would be served by going into the whole elaborate question of Parliamentary proceedings. That has been done on several occasions, and has not led to very much. Moreover, if we had a reference as wide as that the probability is that the Inquiry would take an inordinate length of time, and, therefore, would not lead to any effective result. Consequently, the proposed reference is quite limited—namely, to consider the desirability of altering the customary period of the Parliamentary Session, and the necessary changes incidental thereto. We hope that both Houses of Parliament will consent to the proposal. My noble friend has remarked with severity upon the failure of the House of Commons as a sporting community. He said it was a pure delusion that they wanted to hunt. That may be, but I would not like to make reflections upon the sporting proclivities of another place. It is true, however, that the interests of hunting must not be considered to be in competition with the proper work of Parliament.
The difficulty which has arisen is this. As your Lordships are aware, the greater part of the early period of each year is taken up in the House of Commons by the consideration of financial business, and the earlier stages of legislation are not possible, except to a very limited extent, during those early months of the year. The consequence is that the whole procedure of Standing Committees is at a standstill, because there are no Bills to be sent to Standing Committees, and, therefore, it was thought by a certain body of opinion in the House of Commons that if the early stages of Bills could be got through before Christmas it would be 565 possible, while the financial business was going through the House of Commons itself, for the Standing Committees to be set to work, thereby saving a great deal of time.
I need not say that I pronounce no opinion upon that suggestion, both because I am ill qualified to pronounce an opinion upon the business of the House of Commons, and because, as it is a matter for investigation, it would obviously be unwise to come to any conclusion upon it before it has been considered by the Committee. There is upon the other side of the question the consideration, which I do not think affects my noble friend, that any such change would make Autumn Sessions a permanent institution in this country. They are very nearly so now, but they would become absolutely so. Autumn Sessions would become as essential a part of our Parliamentary system as are any of the Rules which now govern us. To those of us who look back with a certain regret to the old 566 system under which the autumn was free, that is a matter of considerable concern; but these matters will no doubt be gone into by the Joint Select Committee when it sits, and I hope, when I have the honour to move the appointment of the Select Committee, that your Lordships will assent to it.