said, that Members need not stay in the many cases were never intended to be House after midnight, unless they pleased; passed, and in others were withdrawn at but some Members wished to discharge the close of the Session. Never had the their duty conscientiously, and therefore business been so well conducted as at the remained so long as the House was sitting. close of last Session, when the House sat He was convinced that by the adoption of early. He hoped the Government would the Resolution, the business of the House give at least a trial to this Motion. would be facilitated; that it would be more favourable to the health of Members, and be more satisfactory to the country. MR. EWART, in seconding the Motion, said, he wished that the proposition was one which would have the effect of assimilating more their business to the course they adopted on Wednesdays. It was stated, by a high authority, that more real practical business was done by that House on the Wednesdays than on any of the other days of the week. He (Mr. Ewart) considered that after twelve o'clock at night, those Members who were really anxious to do their duty might with great reason and propriety protest against proceeding any further with the business of the Legislature. The practice of sitting beyond twelve o'clock was most injurious to the health of the Members generally, especially to that of the Ministers, who had so many other duties to attend to. He had seen Ministers at such a time, while endeavouring to push forward business, actually sinking under the weight of their labour. He believed that the voice of the country was with his hon. Friend in taking this step. The voice of common sense was, at all events, in his favour. Motion made, and Question put "That in the present Session of Parliament no Business shall be proceeded with in this House after midnight; and that, at Twelve o'clock at night precisely, notwithstanding there may be Business under discussion, Mr. Speaker do adjourn the House without putting any Question." MR. W. WILLIAMS said, he thought the practice of sitting so late at night was most discreditable to that House. Bills of the utmost importance were passed over night without the slightest consideration. Oftentimes were they called upon after midnight to dispose of thirty or forty Orders of the Day, and the consequence was, that measures were hurried through in an imperfect manner, and had to be amended in subsequent Sessions. It might be said that the mass of public business could not be otherwise got through; but every one acquainted with the mode of business in that House was acquainted with the fact that the early part of the Session was consumed in discussion upon Bills that in SIR WILLIAM CLAY said, the object of his hon. Friend in this Motion was really within his own power, by moving an adjournment after midnight. He thought there were many occasions on which the House would feel the enormous importance of forwarding certain Bills a stage, although it might be after midnight; and he therefore urged his hon. Friend not to press his Motion, but to leave it to the good sense and good taste of hon. Members. The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER said, the business of the House had very much increased of late years, and the gist of this Motion was to reduce the time they could dedicate to the transaction of it. The proposition of the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Brotherton) was really to establish a restriction on debate; it was an extraordinary proposition in a free-trade age and a free-trade House of Commons. The hon. Baronet who had last addressed them, had reminded the hon. Gentleman of his frequent exercise of the salutary privilege of moving the adjournment of the House after midnight, and no doubt on many occasions it had contributed very much to public convenience; but there had been occasions when hon. Gentlemen had made Motions that the debate should terminate, on which an irresistible feeling had been shown on both sides of the House that the termination of the debate under such circumstances would be extremely inexpedient to the public welfare and public business. An iron inflexible rule on the question would be highly inconvenient. The subject had been very much considered in the Committee on Public Business. This restriction in debate was very much like the plan for limiting the duration of a speech, upon which point the Members of the Committee, formed from all parties of the House, came to an almost unanimous opinion, that if such a resolution were adopted, many hon. Gentlemen whom the House did not wish to hear would certainly speak for the hour, while the Gentlemen whom the House wished to speak more than an hour, would be prevented from doing so. As to the sanitary part of the question alluded to, and the reference made to the mode in which the business of the House was car ried on during the latter part of the Session, he could only say that if a sanitary consideration was alone to influence the hon. Gentlemen who supported the proposition, he did not think that they would persevere in it. It would be totally impossible that the system of meeting at an early hour of the day could be generally acted upon. They were obliged to meet very early every day during the last month of the previous Session for the purpose of hurrying on the dissolution, and of disposing of the important business which it was absolutely essential to transact. They were consequently obliged very frequently to sit for a period of fourteen hours in the day. Now, when hon. Members recollected the arduous duties of the Government, and the necessity of their attending to their offices, as well as in their places in that House, they must admit the impossibility of their continuing for any length of time such a system of prolonged labour. He doubted much whether they would be able to undertake the duties of a Government if such a demand was to be made upon their time. He really thought that the question might be left to the good taste of the House; for he had seen many instances where rigid rules failed to accomplish that which, when left to the good taste and feeling of hon. Members, was successfully achieved. It would be his duty, therefore, to oppose the Motion of the hon. Gentleman, though he readily admitted it was introduced with the best and most commendable intentions. MR. HUME said, he should support the Motion, for in the opinion of the public the manner in which the business of that House was managed was not consistent with a due regard to the great interests committed to its care. The right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer had ridiculed the idea of hon. Members being compelled to make short speeches, but he (Mr. Hume) was not quite sure that such a regulation would not have a most salutary effect. At all events, he had heard that the adoption of a limitation of the sort, in an assembly in another country, had, after some six or eight months' practice, been attended with very satisfactory results. He thought his hon. Friend (Mr. Brotherton) had acted perfectly right in thus appealing to the good sense of the House, and asking them to adopt some mode by which their late sittings might be abridged. If the plan proposed by his hon. Friend were agreed VOL. CXXIII. [THIRD SERIES.] to as a general rule, leaving extraordinary cases as exceptions, he believed they would soon find that they had got rid of one-half of the obnoxious measures which were now being constantly brought before them. He (Mr. Hume) had been the innovator in the case of the Wednesday sittings, and he thought he should have the testimony of the right hon. Gentleman in the Chair, as well as the great majority of the Members of that House, in favour of that alteration. Adopt the Motion of his hon. Friend, and equally beneficial results would be the consequence. LORD JOHN RUSSELL said, that, however satisfactory the limitation of the sittings of that House might be to the public, and great as the convenience of such an arrangement might be to hon. Members, yet he believed that they would not improve the mode of carrying on the business of the House by merely adopting the Motion under discussion. The House must be aware there was not a legislative assembly in the world which transacted nearly half as much business as the House of Commons did. With regard to the example of the Congress of the United States, it should be remembered that the whole of the local business of the Union was carried on by the several State Legislatures, and, moreover, that as the whole of the Administration formed no part of Congress, therefore there were not in that assembly those debates as to matters of administration which took up so much of the time of this House. Considering then. that they had this amount of business to do, he put it to them whether it might not become necessary very much to alter all their other rules in case they agreed to the present proposition. If that was to be the case, let them have the whole scheme to be proposed for a different mode of conducting the business of the House laid before a Committee, and not begin by at once adopting the Motion of the hon. Member for Salford. With regard to reducing the number of stages through which Bills had to pass in that House, let him remind hon. Gentlemen that it was not many years ago that, from the introduction of a Bill to its passing, there were not less than thirty-two questions put. Adopt the proposition now made, and it would probably become necessary to still further reduce the number of questions which were still put-to read a Bill a first and second time, and not go to a third reading at all, or some change of that sort. It appeared G Fitzgerald, Sir J. F. to him (Lord J. Russell), that, however | Fagan, W. dent. SIR HENRY WILLOUGHBY said, he would have supported the Motion if he could have done so with propriety, because he should be glad to prevent that system of midnight legislation which had sometimes been conducted with such evil effects in that House. But unfortunately the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Brotherton) had overshot the mark in not limiting his Resolution to the introduction of new business. If his hon. Friend would bring forward some Motion by which no new business should be introduced after midnight, unless with the distinct leave of the House, such a proposition as that would come before them with effect; although even that might require some further consideration, as suggested by the noble Lord opposite. Under existing circumstances, it was clear that if they adopted the Motion of the hon. Member for Salford, they would put it in the power of any party in the House to talk any question out. That would be so fatal to their deliberations that he could not give his support to the Motion. MR. BROTHERTON, in reply, said, he must express his regret that he could not enlist the leading Members of the House in support of his Motion: the discussion had only tended to show how much more difficult it was to unlearn bad habits than to acquire good ones. Question put. Henchy, D. O.C. The House divided:-Ayes 64; Noes tant of all questions-the effective force of 260: Majority 196. our Navy, and it was one upon which he The DUKE of NORTHUMBERLAND said, that he had no difficulty whatever in answering the question of his noble and learned Friend. There was a Committee, 165 Bills of Exchange and {Nov. 16, 1852} Notes (Metropolis) Bill. 166 not a Commission, under the Board of Ad- I was in the hands of a British subject, who miralty now sitting, to inquire generally had to look to the foreign endorser in deinto the state of the manning of the Navy, fault of the English acceptor, or suppose and embracing everything connected with the English holder got payment from the the condition of our seamen. It had been foreign endorser, but that endorser had to sitting for several months, but no report look to a prior endorser, and that that rehad yet been made. The Committee was medy had to be enforced in a foreign court of a private nature, for the purpose of in--the effect of this Bill would be to alter forming the Admiralty, and was composed of many most distinguished officers, in whose judgment the greatest confidence could be placed, and who would ever have prominently in view the good of the service. He entirely agreed that the question was one of great importance. LORD BROUGHAM said, when he spoke of the expense, he had in his eye the undoubted fact of the wages being so much better in other branches of the sea service than in our Navy; and, not only in our own mercantile marine, but in the American service. BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND NOTES (METROPOLIS) BILL. The EARL of DERBY then moved the Second Reading of the Bill with respect to the presentation and payment of Bills falling due on Thursday next. the nature of the contract which had been made abroad between the parties to the bill. Now a bill of exchange drawn upon a British subject, so far as concerned a British subject, enured according to the British law. Although, however, the general principle of the law was that contracts depended on the law of the country where they were made, there was an exception. If a bill was drawn in one country upon the subject of another in that country, the law of the country where the bill was to be paid was that which regulated the liability of the acceptor. But in this case the foreign endorser had engaged that the acceptor should pay if the bill was presented according to the tenor of the bill; and it was very doubtful if the foreign courts would enforce the contract as altered by an ex post facto law in this country. He wished therefore to suggest that it would LORD CAMPBELL said, that, entirely behove all holders of bills due on the 18th, approving the Bill, he wished to make one whose bills were not paid on Wednesday, observation with a view of removing some to present them again on Friday. Geneapprehensions which had been expressed rally speaking, presentation was excused with respect to it. It had been suggested for a reasonable cause, and it had been that foreign acceptors and endorsers of bills | held that, where there was a physical remight be released from their liabilities if straint on the party holding the bill-such the bills due on the 18th were presented on as riots on the day when the bill was due any other than the day on which they origi--nonpresentation on the day on which it nally became due. He apprehended, how- fell due was excused, provided the bill was ever, that it was a maxim of modern law that presented as soon as the physical restraint that which was done in each country must was withdrawn, and at the earliest practibe taken according to the law of that coun- cable moment. Now the effect of this try. Now, the 17th inst. would be the Bill was, if not to render the presentation day for the presentation of bills falling due of bills on the 18th instant unlawful on the in England on the 18th, according to the day on which they fell due, at least to law of this country; and he thought, there- show that the Legislature intended they fore that the acceptor and endorser would should not be presented on that day. That be as much liable if the bill were then might not be considered equivalent to a presented as if it were presented on the restraint by force by the foreign courts. It 18th. was therefore important that holders of foreign bills falling due on Thursday should present them on Friday, as the earliest period possible after they fell due, in order to place themselves in the best possible situation, LORD TRURO said, he did not intend to offer any opposition to the Bill; but he was afraid that some inconvenience might arise. There could be no doubt that the provisions of this Bill, by which bills falling due on the 18th instant might be presented the day previously, would be attended with no evil consequences in relation to British bills. Let them, however, take the case of bills drawn in foreign parts on British subjects. Suppose that one of these bills LORD CAMPBELL said, that he must express his confidence that the foreign endorsers and drawers were liable, according to what would be a good presentation by the law of England when that presentation had to be made. Now, as there were three days of grace there was no necessity for a presentation on the day when the bill fell due; and, therefore, according to the law of England, the presentation would now be good either on the 17th or 19th inst. LORD TRURO said, he referred only to foreign contracts. LORD BROUGHAM said, that when two Judges gave opinions not exactly the same, he hoped they would not consider themselves bound by the opinions which they might there express, if the point was ever brought before them judicially. Bill read 2a (according to Order); Committee negatived; and Standing Orders Nos. 37 and 38 considered (according to Order), and dispensed with; and Bill read 3a, and passed. FUNERAL OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. LORD REDESDALE brought up the First Report of the Select Committee appointed to consider the best mode in which the House could assist at the ceremony of the funeral of the late Duke of Wellington. | The Clerk at the table then read the Report: "1. That the House be represented in the Procession by the Lord Chancellor only. "2. That the Lords attending the Ceremony in the Cathedral do appear in Mourning in the Places reserved for them. "3. That arrangements be made for such Lords as desire to go to the Cathedral by Water to proceed from the House to Paul's Wharf, at a Quarter past Nine o'Clock. "4. That Tickets be ready for Delivery to all Lords proposing to attend the Ceremony, 'till Five o'Clock To-morrow, at the Earl Marshal's Office, No. 1, Parliament Street; such Tickets will be required by all who go to the Cathedral, whether by Land or Water. "5. That similar Tickets be also delivered to all Peers of Scotland and Ireland." ment propose to adopt for the further prosecution of the objects which your Lordships and the other House of Parliament had then in view. My Lords, the Acts which your Lordships passed last Session with regard to the proceedings of the Court of Chancery were three in number. One Act was for the abolition of the office of Master in Chancery, and for introducing an altogether new system of Chamber practice with regard to matters which, up to that time, had been prosecuted by the Masters in their own Chambers. The next Act was for the Improvement of the Jurisdiction in Equity; and the third Act was called the Suitors in Chancery Relief Act; and it certainly did afford a great relief, by the reduction of salaries and the abolition of useless and unnecessary offices. Now, my Lords, it has been very much the practice of Parliament, and it is a very easy mode (whatever other difficulties it may involve) of getting through the business of legislation on such subjects, not to fill up in detail the outline of the Bills, but to leave almost everything beyond their leading subjects to be carried into execution by Orders to be made by the Court after the Bills themselves have passed. This was the course adopted by Parliament with respect to the measures of last Session; and I can assure your Lordships, therefore, that my vacation has been principally occupied in a species of legislation-sometimes with and sometimes without the assistance of my learned Colleagues in order to supply what was necessary to give full effect to these Acts of Parliament. My Lords, they are now in full operation; and I think I can assure your Lordships, from what I have already seen, that they will fully ef fect everything which the country and Parliament have had in view. And I think I may venture to assert that the celerity with which matters will be decided in Chancery "That this House be represented in the Pro- will be such as to make the old proverb cession by the Lord Chancellor only." On Question, agreed to. entirely forgotten, and to lead to the introduction of a new one. I think there is no Court in this country in which questions of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADMINISTRA-property will be decided with such rapidity TION OF THE LAW. The LORD CHANCELLOR: My Lords, I rise for the purpose of stating to your Lordships what steps have been taken since we last met for the purpose of carrying into operation the Acts which were passed last Session having reference to the Court of Chancery, and various matters connected therewith. I rise also to state to your Lordships what are the further measures which Her Majesty's Govern as there-and by rapidity I do not mean haste, which above all other things is to be deprecated in the administration of justice; I mean really good speed-speed so far as is consistent with the most mature deliberation; and that such speed can now be given to matters coming before the Court of Chancery I hope to show your Lordships before I sit down, as well as that the expense may yet be greatly diminished, so as to render that Court, and every portion of |