otion
was that the Speaker do now leave the chair, and the moment that motion
was put it was immediately met by an amendment. A Tory member raised
the question that there was a mistake in one of the returns of
population in the constituency which he represented, and he proposed
that his constituent should be allowed to show cause in person or by
counsel at the bar of the House for a rectification of the error. Lord
John Russell admitted that there appeared to have been some mistake in
the return, but he contended that the motion to enable the House to go
into committee was not the proper time at which such a question could
be raised. Every one in the House knew perfectly well the motive for
raising the question just then, and after some time had been wasted in
absolutely unnecessary discussion the obstructive amendment was
defeated by a majority of 97. That, however, did not help matters very
much, for the House had still to divide upon the question that the
Speaker do now leave the chair. This was met by repeated motions for
adjournment, and on every one of these motions a long discussion was
kept up by some leading members of the Opposition and by their faithful
followers. The reader will remember that until the motion had been
carried for the Speaker to leave the chair it was still the House, and
not the committee, that was sitting, and therefore no member could
speak more than once on the same subject. But then this fact did not
secure even that particular stage of the debate against obstruction,
for there were several different forms in which the motion for
adjournment might be made, and on each of these several proposals a
member was entitled to speak even although he had already spoken on
each motion previously proposed {162} to the same practical effect.
Perhaps it may be as well to bring the condition of things more clearly
and more practically within the understanding of the general reader,
seeing that the Parliamentary obstruction which may be said to have
begun with the Reform Bill became afterwards so important an instrument
for good or for evil in our legislative system. The motion then is
made that Mr. Speaker do now leave the chair. Thereupon Mr. Brown,
Tory member, moves as an amendment that the House do now adjourn, and
Mr. Brown sets forth in a lengthened speech his reasons for thinking
that the House ought not to sit any longer that night. Some member of
the Ministry rises and gives his reas