COMPARATIVE VIEW OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BILLS.
THE Public and Private Bill department was not increased in corre- spondence with the increased time consumed by the House in public and private business. The following table, extracted from the Sessions Paper No. 639, and completed to the present time, exhibits the state of the public and private bills for the last twenty-seven years and thirty sessions of the United Parliament.
TABLE SHOWING THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUSINESS COMPLETED BY THE HOUSE OF COMMONS FROM 1806 TO 1832 INCLUSIVE; WITH THE TIMES OF MEETING AND PROROGUING, AND THE TIME OCCUPIED BY EACH SESSION OF THE HOUSE.
Public Private SESSION Sitting Sitting
Acts. Acts. Commenced. Terminated Days. Hours.
.... 21 Jan. .... 23July 125 645
.... la Dee. .... 27 April 96 434 .... 22 Jane .... 14 Aug. . 45 272
.... 21 Jan. .... 4 July 111 929 .... 19 Jan. .... 21 June 97 746 .... :93 Jan. .... 21 June 97 802 .... 1 Nov. .... 24 July 135 583
.... 7 Jan. .... 30 July 137 956
.... 24 Nov. .... 22 July 136 776 .... 4 Nov. ... . 30 July 127 476 .... 8 Nov. .... 12 July 119 654 .... 1 Feb. .... 2 July 91 667 .... 28 Jan. .... 12 July 100 537
.... -, Jan. .... 10 June 493
.... 14Jan. .... 13July 118 774
.... 23 Nov. .... 28 Feb. 34 563
.... 21 April .... 23 Nov. 69 563 .... 23 Jan. .... 11 July 104 861+ .... 5 Feb. .... 6 Aug. 105 g's
.... 4 Feb. .... 19 July 96 774+
.... 3 Feb. .... 25 June 86 692
.... 3 Feb. .... 6 July 91 687
.... 2 Feb. .... 31 May 64 457 .... 14 Nov. .... 2 July 106 6451
.... 29 Jan. .... 23 July 111 777
.... 5 Feb. .... 24 June 79 540 .... 4 Feb. .... 23 July 105 . 856 .... 26 Oct. . . . • 22 April 90 640 .... 14 June .... 20 Oct. 98 918 .... 6 Dec. .... 16 Aug. 148 Year.
1806 ....
153 ....
226 1806-7
268 1807
263 1803
234 1809
304 1810
314 1811
295 1812
:999 1813
295 1814
298 1815
212 1816
163 1817
140 1818
153
1819 •
• • • 133 ....
203 1819-20 ....
14 ....
167
1820 • • . 119 .... 167 1821 . • • . 123 ....
187 1822 ....
127 ....
161 1823 ....
100 ....
167 1824 ....
115 ....
213 1825 ....
134 ....
282 1826 ....
79 ....
201
1327 •
• • • 75 ....
184 1828 ... • 95 ....
175
1829 ....
63 ....
205
1830 •
• • • 75 ....
204
1930-31 ....
27 ....
80 1831 ....
60 ....
114 1831-2 ....
— .. • . —
From the above table, it will be seen that the length of the sittings of the House, and the quantity of business completed by it, have been in the inverse rather than direct ratio of each other. The following table exhibits the averages of business performed and time consumed during the five periods of five years ending 1810, 1815, 1820, 1825, 1830.
Periods. Public Bills. Private Bills.
Duration of Sess. iu +tours.
1st. . . . 134 269i
7 '441
2d . . . 168i 2774 670 8d . . . . 129k 166i 7154
4th. . . . 1194 202
760i
5th. . . . 77,1 193:4 655
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