The Government got the second reading of its Licensing Bill
on Tuesday night by a reduced majority, but it came very near to not getting it at all. Mr. Herbert Morrison was winding up. The debate had got decidedly lively, as debates often do in that unique closing hour between nine and ten. The Opposition was uproarious, with the result that the Minister had more than once, to stop till he could be heard. He was determined to say what he meant to, though the hands of the clock were getting closer and closer to ten, and if a motion is not put by ten it cannot be put at all, and the measure under discussion is "talked out." At 9.59 the situation, looked critical. Mr. Morrison was resolved to have his say. Members drew each other's attention to the time. The Speaker leaned forward and half rose from his chair. Still Mr. Morrison, at the despatch-box with voice raised, worked up to his finish. It was left to the Chief Whip, Mr. Whiteley, to save the situation. -From his place on the
Front Bench he gave an emphatic tug to the Lord President's coat- tails, and, when that was not effective, another one. That did it. Mr. Morrison dropped back into his seat, still enunciating his last sentence, the Speaker quickly put the motion as Big Ben was begin- ning his first chime, Members shouted their Aye or No and pro- ceeded to crowd duly into the lobbies, "Ayes to the right, Noes to the left." But it was a near thing.
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