was not intolerable, and he deprecated lengthened discussion with more important matters awaiting decision.

MR. O'SHEE said that Questions of which notice was given on Monday must be answered on Wednesday; Questions notified on Tuesday must be answered on Thursday; and Questions notified on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday must all be answered on the following Monday. If the Rule was interpreted strictly, it was absurd.

MR. O'MARA (Kilkenny, S.) said it was ridiculous that the matter should be left in the manner in which it was here. It was really absurd, as his hon. friend had pointed out, that Questions should be put down for three days and that they should accumulate on the Paper to be answered on Monday. Suppose that fifty Questions were put down each day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for oral replies, there would be on Monday 150 Questions on the Paper. How did the First Lord of the Treasury expect that these Questions would be answered in the few minutes to be devoted to them? Really, this Standing Order, so far as the asking of Questions to be answered orally was concerned, would leave the House in a position of absolute absurdity. There had been many absurdities introduced into their procedure, but the climax had been reached when it was proposed that Questions put down on three successive days should be answered on one day.

Order was the worst that had been made. Not a single answer had been given by the authors of this absurdity in defence I of its retention. It was evident that the limitations laid down by the Rule were for the real purpose of turning hon. Members against the asking of Questions altogether. They valued the right of asking Questions, and he hoped that a division would be taken on the Amendment. He believed the Nationalists gave less trouble to the Government than any section of the House. Their object in exposing on the floor of the House the methods of Irish administration was not only to obtain redress for their own people, but to show to the civilised world what the system of government in Ireland was. That was one of the rights which they intended to cling to through thick and thin. No reason had been given for this drastic change, and if a reason could be assigned he believed it would be stated. This Rule would enable the Government to shirk the duty for which they were very well paid. He did not consider the House was being treated fairly when, after the arguments which had been deduced, hon. and right hon. Gentlemen on the Government Front Bench remained silent.

Acland-Hood, Capt. Sir Alex. F.
Agg-Gardner, James Tynte
Agnew, Sir Andrew Noel
Archdale, Edward Mervyn
Arkwright, John Stanhope
Arnold-Forster, Hugh O.
Arrol, Sir William
Atkinson, Rt. Hon. John
Austin, Sir John
Bain, Colonel James Robert
Balcarres, Lord

Balfour, Rt. Hon. A.J. (Manch'r Balfour, Capt. C. B. (Hornsey) Balfour, RtHn Gerald W (Leeds Balfour, Kenneth R. (Christch. Banbury, Frederick George Bartley, George C. T. Beach, RtHn. Sir Michael Hicks Bentinck, Lord Henry C. VOL. CVII.

Coghill, Douglas Harry
Collings, Rt. Hon. Jesse
Colston, Chas. Edw. H. Athole
Corbett, A. Cameron (Glasgow
Corbett, T. L. (Down, North)
Cranborne, Viscount

Cross, Alexander (Glasgow)
Cross, Herb. Shepherd (Bolton)
Dalrymple, Sir Charles
Denny, Colonel

Dewar, T. R. (TrH'ml'ts, S. Geo
Dickinson, Robert Edmond
Dickson, Charles Scott
Doughty, George

Douglas, Rt. Hon. A. AkersDoxford, Sir William Theodore Duke, Henry Edward Fellowes, Hon. Ailwyn Edward Fergusson, Rt. Hn. SirJ. (Manc.

M'Hugh, Patrick A.
M'Kean, John
M'Kenna, Reginald
M-Killop, W. (Sligo, North)
Mansfield, Horace Rendall
Markham, Arthur Basil
Mooney, John J.
Morgan, J. Lloyd (Carmarthen
Murphy, John
Nannetti, Joseph P.
Nolan, Col. John P. (Galway,N.)
Nolan, Joseph (Louth, South)
O'Brien, Kendal (Tin'erary Mid
O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny)
O'Brien, P. J. (Tipperary, N.)
O'Connor, James(Wicklow, W.
O'Connor, T. P. (Liverpool)
O'Donnell, T. (Kerry, W.)
O'Down, John

O'Kelly, Conor (Mayo, N.)
O'Kelly, James (Roscommon, N
O'Malley, William
O'Mara, James

O'Shaughnessy, P. J.
O'Shee, James John
| Partington, Oswald
Paulton, James Mellor
Power, Patrick Joseph
Rea, Russell
Reddy, M.
Redmond, John E. (Waterford)
Rickett, J. Compton
Rigg, Richard

Roberts, John Bryn (Eifion)
Roberts, John H. (Denbigh.)
Robson, William Snowdon
Roche, John
Runciman, Walter
Schwann, Charles E.
Shaw, Charles Edw. (Stafford)
Shaw, Thomas (Hawick B.)
Shipman, Dr. John G.
Sinclair, John (Forfarshire)
Soares, Ernest J.

Spencer, RtHnC. R. (Northants
Stevenson, Francis S.

Strachey, Sir Edward Sullivan, Donal

Thomas, Abel (Carmarthen, E.)
Thomas, David Alfred(Merthyr
Thomson, F. W. (York, W. R.)
Tomkinson, James
Trevelyan, Charles Philips
Wallace, Robert
Weir, James Galloway
White, George (Norfolk)
White, Patrick (Meath North)
Whiteley, George(York, W.R.)
Whitley, J. H. (Halifax)
Williams, Osmond (Merioneth)
Wilson, Fred. W. (Norfolk, Mid
Young, Samuel
Yoxall, James Henry

TELLERS FOR THE NOESMr. Pirie and Mr. Nor

man.

Acland-Hood, Capt. Sir Alex. F.
Agg-Gardner, James Tynte
Agnew, Sir Andrew Noel
Allhusen, Augustus Henry E.
Archdale, Edward Mervyn
Arkwright, John Stanhope
Arnold Forster, Hugh O.
Arrol, Sir William
Atkinson, Rt. Hon. John
Austin, Sir John

Bain, Colonel James Robert
Balcarres, Lord

Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J. (Manch'r
Balfour, Capt. C. B. (Hornsey)
Balfour, Rt HnGerald W (Leeds
Balfour, Kenneth R. (Christch.
Banbury, Frederick George
Barry, Sir Francis T. (Windsor)
Bartley, George C. T.
Beach, Rt. HnSir Michael Hicks
Bentinck, Lord Henry C.
Bhownaggree, Sir M. M.
Bignold, Arthur

Bigwood, James

Bill, Charles

Blundell, Colonel Henry
Bond, Edward
Boscawen, Arthur Griffith-
Bowles, Capt. H. F. (Middlesex
Brassey, Albert

Brodrick, Rt. Hon. St. John
Brookfield, Colonel Montagu
Brotherton, Edward Allen
Brymer, William Ernest
Bullard, Sir Harry
Butcher, John George
Carson, Rt. Hon. Sir Edw. H.
Cavendish, R. F. (N. Lancs.)
Cavendish, V.C.W (Derbyshire
Cecil, Evelyn (Aston Manor)
Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J. (Birm.

AYES.

Chamberlain,J Austen (Worc'r
Chaplin, Rt. Hon. Henry
Clare, Octavius Leigh
Cochrane, Hon. Thos. H. A. E.
Coghill, Douglas Harry
Collings, Rt. Hon. Jesse
Colston, Chas. Edw. H. Athole
Compton, Lord Alwyne
Corbett, A. Cameron (Glasgow
Corbett, T. L. (Down, North)
Cranborne, Viscount

Cross, Alexander (Glasgow)
Cross, Herb. Shepherd (Bolton)
Dalkeith, Earl of
Dalrymple, Sir Charles
Denny, Colonel
Dewar,T.R.(T'r H'ml'ts, S. Geo
Dickinson, Robert Edmond
Dickson, Charles Scott
Doughty, George
Douglas, Rt. Hon. A. Akers-
Doxford, Sir William Theodore
Duke, Henry Edward
Fellowes, Hon. Ailwyn Edward
Fergusson, Rt. Hn.SirJ (Manc'r
Fielden, Edward Brocklehurst
Finch, George H.

Finlay, Sir Robert Bannatyne
Fisher, William Hayes
Fitzroy, Hon. Edward Algernon
Flannery, Sir Fortescue
Flower, Ernest

Forster, Henry William
Foster, PhilipS. (Warwick, SW
Galloway, William Johnson
Gardner, Ernest
Garfit, William
Godson, Sir Augustus Frederick
Gordon, Hn.J.E. (Elgin&Nairn
Gore, Hon. S. F.Ormsby-(Linc.)
Gorst, Rt. Hon. Sir John Eldon

Goulding, Edward Alfred
Green, WalfordD (Wednesbury
Greene, Henry D (Shrewsbury)
Gretton, John

Groves, James Grimble
Hain, Edward

Hambro, Charles Eric
Hamilton Rt HnLordG(Midd'x
Hanbury, Rt. Hon. Robert Wm.
Hardy, Laurence(Kent, Ashf'rd
Harris, Frederick Leverton
Haslam, Sir Alfred S.
Hatch, Ernest Frederick Geo.
Hay, Hon. Claude George
Heath, Arthur Howard (Hanley
Heath, James (Staffords., N. W.
Helder, Augustus

Henderson, Alexander
Hermon-Hodge, Robert Trotter
Higginbottom, S. W.
Hobhouse, Henry (Somerset, E.)
Hogg, Lindsay

Hope, J.F(Sheffield, Brightside
Houldsworth, Sir Wm. Henry
Howard,John(Kent Faversham
Hudson, George Bickersteth
Jeffreys, Arthur Frederick
Johnston, William (Belfast)
Johnstone, Heywood (Sussex)
Kennaway, Rt. Hon. SirJohn H.
Kenyon, Hon. Geo. T. (Denbigh
Kenyon-Slaney, Col. W. (Salop)
Knowles, Lees

Law, Andrew Bonar (Glasgow)
Lawrence, Joseph (Monmouth)
Lawson, John Grant
Lee, Arthur H(Hants, Fareham
Lees, Sir Elliott (Birkenhead)
Legge, Col. Hon. Heneage
Leveson-Gower, Frederick N.S.
Llewellyn, Evan Henry

Loder, Gerald Walter Erskine
Long, Rt. Hn. Walter(Bristol S)
Lonsdale, John Brownlee
Lowe, Francis William
Lucas, Reginald J. (Portsmouth
Macdona, John Cumming
MacIver, David (Liverpool)
Maconochie, A. W.
M'Calmont, Col. J. (Antrim, E.)
M'Iver, Sir Lewis(Edinburgh W
M'Killop, James (Stirlingshire)
Majendie, James A. H.
Manners, Lord Cecil
Maxwell, WJ H(Dumfriesshire
Melville, Beresford Valentine
Mildmay, Francis Bingham
Mitchell, William
Molesworth, Sir Lewis
Montagu, G. (Huntingdon)
More, Robt. Jasper (Shropshire)
Morgan, Hn. Fred(Monm'thsh.
Morrell, George Herbert
Morrison, James Archibald
Morton, Arthur H. A (Deptford)
Mowbray, Sir Robert Gray C.
Murray, RtHnA. Graham (Bute
Murray, Charles J. (Coventry)
Murray, Col. Wyndham (Bath)
Myers, William Henry
Newdigate, Francis Alexander
Nicholson, William Graham
Nicol, Donald Ninian
O'Neill, Hon. Robert Torrens
Orr-Ewing, Charles Lindsay

Palmer, Walter (Salisbury)
Parkes, Ebenezer
Pease, Herbert Pike(D'rlington
Pilkington, Lieut. -Col. Richard
Platt-Higgins, Frederick
Plummer, Walter R.
Powell, Sir Francis Sharp
Pretyman, Ernest George
Pryce-Jones, Lt. Col. Edward
Purvis, Robert

Rasch, Major Frederic Carne
Ratcliff, R. F.

Rattigan, Sir William Henry Reid, James (Greenock) Remnant, James Farquharson Renshaw, Charles Bine Renwick, George

Ritchie, Rt Hn Chas. Thompson
Robertson, Herbert (Hackney)
Rolleston, Sir John F. L.
Ropner, Colonel Robert
Rothschild, Hon. Lionel Walter
Royds, Clement Molyneux
Russell, T. W.

Sackville, Col. Samuel Alex'der
Samuel, Harry S. (Limehouse)
Sassoon, Sir Edward Albert
Sharpe, William Edward T.
Simeon, Sir Barrington
Smith, H.C(North'mbTyneside
Smith, James Parker(Lanarks)
Spear, John Ward

Stanley, EdwardJas. (Somerset
Stanley, Lord (Lancs.)

NOES.

| Goddard, Daniel Ford
Grant, Corrie
Gurdon, Sir W. Brampton
Hammond, John
Hayden, John Patrick
Hayne, Rt. Hon. Charles Seale-
Hayter, Rt. Hn. Sir Arthur D.
Helme, Norval Watson
Hemphill, Rt. Hon. Charles H.
Hobhouse, C. E. H. (Bristol, E.)
Hope, John Dean- (Fife, West)
Horniman, Frederick John
Hutton, Alfred E.
Jones, David Brynmor (Swans'a
Jones, William (Carnarvonshi'e
Joyce, Michael

Kinloch, Sir JohnGeorgeSmyth
Lambert, George
Law, Hugh Alex. (Donegal,W.)
Layland-Barratt, Francis
Leamy, Edmund

Leese, SirJoseph F. (Accrington
Leigh, Sir Joseph
Leng, Sir John'
Levy, Maurice
Lockwood, Lt. Col. A. R.
Louh, Thomas

MacDonnell, Dr. Mark A.
MacNeill, John Gordon Swift
MacVeagh, Jeremiah

| M'Crea, George
M'Fadden, Edward
M'Hugh, Patrick A.
M'Kean, John
M'Kenna, Reginald
M'Killop, W. (Sligo, North)
Mansfield, Horace Rendall

Stock, James Henry
Strutt, Hon. Charles Hedley
Sturt, Hon. Humphry Napier
Talbot, Lord E. (Chichester)
Thorburn, Sir Walter
Thornton, Percy M.
Tollemache, Henry James
Tomlinson, Wm. Edw. Murray
Tritton, Charles Ernest
Valentia, Viscount
Wanklyn, James Leslie
Warde Colonel C. E.
Wason, John Cathcart (Orkney)
Welby, Sir Charles G. E. (Notts.
Whiteley, H(Ashton und. Lyne
Williams, Colonel R. (Dorset)
Willoughby de Eresby, Lord
Willox, Sir John Archibald
Wilson, A.Stanley (York, E.R.)
Wilson, John (Falkirk)
Wilson, John (Glasgow)
Wilson, J. W. (Worcestersh. N.)
Wolff, Gustav. Wilhelm
Worsley-Taylor, Henry Wilson
Wylie, Alexander
Wyndham, Rt. Hon. George
Wyndham Quin, Major W. H.
Younger, William

TELLERS FOR THE AYESSir William Walrond and Mr. Anstruther.

Markham, Arthur Basil
Mooney, John J.
Morgan, J. Lloyd (Carmarthen)
Murphy, John
Nannetti, Joseph P.

Nolan, Col. John P. (Galway,N.
Nolan, Joseph (Louth, South)
O'Brien, Kendal (Tippera'y Mid
O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny)
O'Brien, P. J. (Tipperary, N.)
O'Connor, James (Wicklow, W.
O'Connor, T. P. (Liverpool)
O'Donnell, T. (Kerry, W.)
O'Dowd, John
O'Kelly, Conor (Mayo, N.)
O'Kelly, James(Roscommon, N.
O'Malley, William
O'Mara, James
O'Shaughnessy, P. J.
O'Shee, James John
Partington, Oswald
Paulton, James Mellor
Power, Patrick Joseph
Rea, Russell
Reddy, M.

Redmond, John E. (Waterford)
Rickett, J. Compton
Rigg, Richard

| Roberts, John Bryn (Eifion)
Roberts, John H. (Denbighs)
Robson, William Snowdon
Roche, John

Roe, Sir Thomas
Runciman, Walter

Samuel, S. M. (Whitechapel)
Schwaon, Charles E.

Shaw, Charles Edw. (Stafford)

* (10.26.) MR. NORMAN thought it was extremely regrettable that no explanation should have been offered by the right hon. Gentleman as to the points he so strongly resisted in the previous Amendment. Had that explanation been made, and had it been satisfactory, it would not have been necessary to trouble the House with the Amendment he now proposed. Under the new Rules, Questions handed in on Wednesday and appearing on the Paper on Thursday would not be answered until the Monday. It was therefore obvious that Questions handed in on Thursday and Friday would also be answered on Monday. Monday's Question Paper, under those conditions, would be so very crowded that the miserable remnant of time allowed under the Rule would not be adequate. One point he desired to impress upon the House-and this was most importantwas that Members would not be able to raise a debate upon a Question of urgent public importance during that time, and in the event of such a Question arising, the whole matter would be hung up for five days. That was a situation which might be fraught with serious consequences. What was the position of Ministers with regard to Friday? What were their obligations to the House on that day? It was open, under the present Rules, for a Member to put down a Question for Wednesday, but it was equally open to a Minister not to come down to answer it.

*MR. SPEAKER: I do not think that that question arises on this Amendment.

*MR. NORMAN assumed that Ministers would not answer Questions on Fridays, and it was on that assumption he was basing his present argument. It could not be contended by any Minister that a Question, of which notice had reached him at his office at two o'clock the day before, had been so suddenly sprung upon him that he could not rise to give an answer twentyfour hours later. If the Amendment were accepted, the difficulties to which he

Whiteley, George (York, W. R.)
Whitley, J. H. (Halifax)
Williams, Osmond (Merioneth)
Wilson, Fred. W.) Norfolk,Mid.
Young, Samuel
Yoxall, James Henry

TELLERS FOR THE NOESMr. Pirie and Mr. Norman.

MR. A. J. BALFOUR: The hon. Gentleman has described to the House the difficulties which he thinks will arise from adopting the Rule unless amended in the manner he suggests. He seems to imagine that the House would have no means of obtaining information upon even the most pressing matter before Wednesday or Monday. That is really not the case, because Questions of urgent public importance can be asked on Thursday, and also, by old-established custom, at the adjournment of the House on Friday.

*MR. NORMAN reminded the right hon. Gentleman that he especially referred to urgent Questions concerning the importance of which the Minister concerned, or the selecting official, did not agree with the hon. Members who desired to ask them.

MR. A. J. BALFOUR: It is not a matter of agreement between the Minister and the private Member, if Mr. Speaker is of opinion that the matter cannot be put off without public inconvenience. Mr. Speaker alone will be the authority to