Mr. Parnell declared that all the new rules of Procedure
had been practically worthless ; and while they had led to much irritation, they had not furthered the business of the House at all. Mr. Whitbread was almost as discouraging in his criti- cisms as Mr. Gladstone; and Mr. Chaplin, defending the new rules, insisted that the Speaker, in being asked to present a motion for the Closure, would be simply expressing his opinion that the question at issue had been fairly discussed, and was ripe for issue. After a number of other speeches, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in an exceedingly temperate speech, declared the willingness of the Government so to limit the practice concerning not raising questions put down for future dis- cussion, as to prevent its abuse to suppress public discussions of importance, and admitted that the proposals of the Govern- ment as to devolution were inadequate; but he urged that till their proposals as to the mode of dealing with local
business had been heard those of the Local Govern- ment Bill), it would not be possible to deal with devolu- tion adequately. Referring to the laughter of the Home-rule Members at his expressions of confidence in the fairness of Par- liament, Mr. Goschen asked whether in any other Assembly in the world they would have been treated with equal candour and impartiality. And he contended that there was less matter of opinion in giving the Speaker a veto on the proposal of the Closure, the use of which would imply that he thought a subject had not been adequately discussed, than there is in asking him to declare "the evident sense of the Rouse" that a subject has been adequately discussed.
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