On Thursday, again, obstruction was the order of the day
in the Procedure Committee, the chief subject of controversy being the power of the House of Lords to suspend for further consideration in another Session of the same Parliament, Bills which had not originated in the Upper House. This Sir William Harcourt and his party strenuously resisted, and no intimation of the willingness of the Government to make concessions on this point produced the smallest impression on the Opposition, who were evidently determined to throw every possible obstacle in the way of the new order. After the adjournment of the Committee till Monday, it was determined not to press the new order of business this Session, but to drop the Irish Land Bill and Tithe Bill, on the under- standing, however, that the next Session is to begin in November, and that they shall then be at once reintroduced and earnestly pressed. And no sooner had that been resolved upon, than Sir William Harcourt, in his speech in the House of Commons, implicitly gave his sanction to the debate on the Address consuming three weeks of the time of the House, when it should not consume three days, and objected to any meeting of the House earlier than January. Of all our public men, Sir William Harcourt is more identified than any other (except a few Parnellites) with the policy of deliberate delay and procrastination.
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