On Monday the Prime Minister moved his drastic proposals for
facilitating progress in Committee of the Home Rule, Welsh Church, and Scottish Temperance Bills. For Bills which come under that Act Committee stages in the ordinary sense formed no part of the normal procedure, as it would clearly be waste of time to discuss amendments which could not be adopted without destroying the identity of a measure, and so withdrawing it from the operation of the Act. The Government would make no suggestions themselves, as they considered the Bills in their present form adequately repre- sented the wishes of the House, but would consider any that were made for the improvement of any of the three Bills, and this concession he regarded as a complete answer to the objeo- tion that the Government were destroying the Committee stage.
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