Mr. Gladstone, in proposing on Monday the first of the
New Rules of procedure,—that which empowers an absolute majority of the House, on the Speaker's expression of his belief that the general sense of the House is in favour of concluding the debate, to vote the Closure,—explained that the Government would consent to this further safeguard, that not only should it be necessary in a House of which the minority was more than 40 to have a majority numbering 200 or more, but even when the minority was less than 40, the majority must exceed 100 in order to be competent to pass the Closure. This affords suffi- cient guarantee that the expedient of the Closure will not be used in very empty Houses to force on Bills or votes which would be defeated in a moderately full House ; and it removes the only objection entertained by Liberals in general to the proposal of Closure by a majority. Indeed, it brings it to something virtually identical with Mr. Dillwyn's proposal of last year.
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