As to the state of business, Mr. Balfour pointed out
the comparative uselessness of the Closure in reference to the enormous number of amendments possible in discussions in Committee. Each application of the Closure takes at least twenty-five minutes for the two divisions involved, and, there- fore, even with the freest use of the Closure, not more than eighteen amendments in one night could be disposed of by this method. On the other hand, the stringent use of the Closure, adopted twice by Mr. Gladstone and once by the present Government in passing a Crimes Act,—the use of it which fixes a date at which the whole Bill must be passed without dis- cussion if it has not previously been discussed,—is hardly applicable to large constructive measures where thorough consideration is of the greatest importance. Mr. Balfour evidently meant to pave the way for the suggestion which the Government offered to the Conservative Party on Thursday. As regards the Conservative tendency of many democracies, Mr. Balfour, who announced himself a Democrat, could net un- derstand how it could be denied. For example, with regard to the American democracy, he declared that it might very much more justly be characterised as too Conservative than as too Liberal.
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