Great progress has been made with the new Rules of
Procedure, the Opposition having opposed mildly, and Mr. Smith having yielded to any reasonable demands. The first rule, which fixed 3 as the hour for commencing and 12.30 as the time for suspending business, was modified with the con- sent of Government, 12 o'clock being selected as the hour for dispersing, and in that form was agreed to without a division.
There was more fight about the rule authorising the Closure, with the consent of the Speaker, whenever one hundred Members voted in the majority, because it was felt that this was the absolute closure. Nobody produced much argument; but Mr. Dillon threatened one day to use the new rope to strangle opponents of Home-rule, and Sir W. Barttelot dreaded the effect of the rule, particularly when Church questions were under discussion. It was, however, carried by 256 to 134, a majority exceeding that of the combined Unionists. Much feeling was shown against the rule allowing the Speaker to order a Member guilty of disorderly con- duct to withdraw from the precincts of the House, the idea being that such a Member would be made uncomfortable,—the very object of the absurdly lenient rule proposed. The rule was, however, passed, after two divisions on amendments, by 134 to 74, as was also the rule enabling the Speaker to silence a Member for vain repetitions of his own or others' arguments. The objection raised to this was that it would prohibit quota- tions ;- but Mr. Smith saw that if an obstructive could quote other men's arguments for ever, his speech would be worse than if he repeated his own. The House generally in this discus- sion showed much sympathy for bores.
