Mr. Chamberlain in the course of his speech declared that
personally he had been in favour of a Commission rather than a Committee. At the same time, there was much to be said in favour of a Committee, and the House generally seemed to prefer that tribunal. He therefore had adopted the proposal for a Committee. Thirteen would be a good number, unless the House was superstitious, and fifteen should be the out- side limit. Sir William Harcourt agreed, speaking strongly, however, in favour of a Committee, and pointing out that Mr. Dalziel's amendment was unnecessary as the ground was already covered by the reference. Mr. Labouchere was anxious that the genesis of the Charter should be inquired into, but Mr. Chamberlain declared that it was too late to go back on the origin of the Company. When, however, Mr. Dillon asked whether the wording of the reference would leave the inquiry open to consider the questions connected with the raising of the capital, the distribution of the shares of the Chartered Company and their manipulation, Mr. Chamberlain replied that "the word 'administration' is a wide word, and it would cover that." We trust that this means that the " financing " of the Company will be inquired into. On the whole, the debate was a very satisfactory one, and showed Mr. Chamberlain's statesmanship and insight. The names of the Committee are not yet announced.
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