So general was the disgust of the Liberals, that on
Thursday night they resorted to a most unusual step. They virtually stopped the Supplies, until discussion had been allowed. The Budget Bill came on for its third reading, but Mr. Dillwyn moved and Lord Hartington supported an adjournment, on the ground that the Budget had been discussed in ignorance of the charges which the Government, when the Budget was framed, intended to cast upon the country. Sir Stafford Northcote fought desperately for his Bill, but men like Mr. Dod- son, Mr. Childers, Mr. Walter, and Mr. Newdegate insisted on the adjournment, and though the motion was beaten by 170 to 85, Mr. Vivian brought it forward again, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was compelled to give way. There can be no doubt that to bring forward an ordinary Budget (Or it had been decided in Cabinet to add, say, £750,000, to the Military Esti- mates for men already engaged, was a farce played at the expense of the House of Commons, and of the right of Parliament to control the national Army and the national expenditure.
