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committee are satisfied they are so naturally It appears, however, worthy of consideration, incident to the present constitution of committees, that no permanent improvement can be obtained, except through some changes in the formation of the committees themselves.

The first point, therefore, they would recommend to the consideration of the house, is the propriety of abstaining hereafter from complying with the motion, "that all who come have "voices." It is important to observe, that the practice of opening committees by that process is of modern adoption; and the inconveniencies that have resulted from it have been so generally felt and acknowledged, that it is unnecessary to offer any arguments against its longer continuance.

whether a division of counties formed on a new principle, accompanied by a permission in certain cases to strike a limited number of names from the list, might not be found to obviate much of the evil complained of. With this view it is submitted to the house, that each bill should be hereafter committed to the member intrusted with its management, and to the members serving for the county or place immediately connected with the project, and to as many of the adjoining counties as may contain, as nearly as may be, sixty members: and that to this number should be added other counties containing about sixty more members, taken indiscriminately from other parts of Great Britain and Ireland. With respect to the precise form and manner If voices are no longer to be allowed to all who in which it may be advisable to re-model the attend committees, it seems highly desirable that committees, more doubts may exist. Abstract-provision should be made for the attendance of a edly considered, that mode would undoubtedly fair proportion of Irish and Scotch members on be most desirable, which should assimilate com- committees on English bills, and of English mittees, by a limitation of numbers, and an ex-members on Irish and Scotch committees. Acclusion of all bias from interest, to the form and character of juries. But the accomplishment of that which is desirable, must necessarily be considered with reference to practicability. And although, if it should ultimately prove necessary, every consideration of the personal convenience of members should be disregarded, your committee are unwilling, in the first instance, to recommend any plan which might be thought to draw too largely on their time, or to impose labours which might be unwillingly submitted to, or duties which might be imperfectly discharged.

cording to the existing lists of the divisions of counties, made under the direction of the speaker about twenty-five years ago, there are in some instances above two hundred members from adjoining counties at liberty to attend committees, while in others there are not more than between sixty and seventy. By preserving the principle of committing bills to a limited number of members from adjoining counties, the house will retain some security for an adequate attendance of members, possessing local knowledge on the subject, on its committees; while the admission of an equal number of members from other parts of Great Britain and Ireland, will have a tendency to correct any prevalence of bias on the minds of members serving for counties with which any particular project may be connected.

Most of the plans which have been brought | under the consideration of your committee, have been founded on the principle of ballot, accompanied, as it necessarily must be, by compulsory regulations for enforcing attendance. But the Should it be the pleasure of the house to necessary service on the numerous select com- adopt this suggestion, and to request of the mittees always sitting, charged with the investi- speaker that a new distribution of the counties gation of subjects frequently of the highest na- may be formed on this new principle, especial tional importance, the official engagements of care should be taken not to include in any one many members of the house, the mercantile and list too large a proportion of members representprofessional avocations of others, the employ-ing any one particular description of interest; ment afforded to many members representing and it may be well to remark, that with a view populous manufacturing counties and places by to prevent the supporters or opponents of any the local or commercial interests of their con- intended bill from submitting ex parte statestituents, the advanced ages of others, and, above ments to members before the assembling of parall, the unavoidable occasional absences of mem-liament in each session, it would be expedient to bers from attendance in parliament, are so many reasons against the adoption of such a principle, if any less objectionable can be discovered. These considerations, added to those of the great number of private committees, which are more likely to increase than to diminish, and the length into which the investigation before them will, under any regulations, be sometimes protracted, all conspire to render select committees obtained by ballot, and kept to a forced attendance by compulsory regulations, a question of doubtful policy and practicability.

make, sessionally, some alteration in the distribution of the counties, to which neither party could have access till after parliament had met.

But as it might still happen in some cases of committees so constituted, there might still be found members who had deep personal interests in the questions at issue, it appears right to your committee that an arrangement should be made, by which any party petitioning in favour of, or against the whole or any part of a bill, who should among other matters pray that the committee might be still further limited, should be

entitled to procure such limitation. The parties ful and laborious work is now completed to their in such case might be appointed to appear at a satisfaction, the balance which remains due given time, and place, before the member in- should be paid to those who have been engaged trusted with the management of the bill, and in carrying it on. They also concur in Mr. there having previously selected some member, Rickman's recommendation as to methodising should, through his agency, be at liberty to re- and compressing into one volume the two duce the list by striking out, not exceeding fifteen volumes of Dunn's Index of the Journals from members on each side, which would then leave from 1774 to 1800. Having had an opportunity ninety at liberty to serve; a number which your of examining a synthetical table of the whole committee does not consider too large, when course of business in the house, which had been they reflect on the necessary absence of some arranged during the time that Lord Colchester members, and the unavoidable avocation of was speaker, they deem it a most useful addition others. They conceive that a number of mem- to the improved index, and have accordingly di bers sufficient to form a quorum, might be se-rected that it should be prefixed to the volume. lected from the list so struck, who might be pre- The committee speak in high terms of the acvailed upon voluntarily to undertake an impartial curacy with which the new index has been and judicial investigation of the points to be printed. brought before the committee, the proceedings of which would be entirely under their own direction, and which would not be subject to be controlled, at the conclusion of a laborious inquiry, by an intrusion of members ignorant of all that had passed during the previous proceedings.

Should a trial be given to the plan recommended, it is the opinion of your committee, that the members serving for the county, city, or place, from whence a bill may proceed, or through which a projected canal or road of any description may pass, should in no case be liable to exclusion from the committee on the bill.

Your committee cannot close its report without adverting to a practice which has grown up in committees, and which they deem as contrary to the intentions of the house as it is manifestly incorrect in principle. Measures have occasionally been frustrated by committees striking out of bills the essential clauses, or by adjourning to a distant day, and thereby abstaining from mak. ing any report. It would be unwise, even if it were possible, to attempt to prescribe to the judgment of committees with respect either to the rejection or the insertion of clauses; but the house is entitled in all cases to a report of the proceedings of its committees, and it therefore appears necessary that the house should adopt some resolution on this head. 21st June, 1825.

JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE

ROOMS AND PAPERS.

Substance of the First Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons, appointed to inquire into the State and Condition of the Printed Reports, and other Papers, presented to that House, and who were instructed to consider and arrange such Reports as it may be proper to print in Volumes, in addition to those which have been already so printed, and prepare an Estimate of the Expense of Printing the same; also to consider of providing some proper Place for the safe Custody of the printed Books and Papers, affording convenient Access to the same, for the Use of Members; and who were also instructed to consider the best Means of providing adïïtional Accommodation for Committee RoomLS, with the least possible Delay.

THE object to which the committee first directed their attention was the committee rooms, which they declare are wholly inadequate to the existing necessity. On a single day, in the course of the session, four committees met on public, and thirty on private business; nineteen of the latter having been fixed to meet in one room. They recommend the immediate addi. tion of at least ten committee rooms. The confined space of the present library being also productive of similar inconveniences, they also recommend that a new, large, commodious, and accessible library should be provided. The commodious for the new committee rooms and site which the committee point out as the most library is the court bounded by the Thames the long gallery, the painted chamber, and the house of commons. As it will be necessary to remove the official house of Mr. Ley, the clerk of the house of commons, the committee observe, that a temporary residence must THE Committee lay before the house a detailed be provided for that gentleman, and advise that account from Mr. Rickman, under whose direc-a new official residence should be built for him tion and superintendence the new index has in the space lying between the north entrance been conducted, and recommend that as this use- Westminster Hall and the river.

Substance of a Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons, appointed to examine the Progress made in the General Index to the Journals of that House, extending from the Union of Ireland to the Demise of his late Majesty, and in continuing a similar Form of Index to the present Time.

CONSTITUTION.—Parliamentary Committee Rooms and Papers. 705 The second report of the same committee annually printed and arranged, a certain numcontains the minutes of the evidence of Mr. ber of perfect copies should be preserved unBenjamin Spiller, George Whittam, esq., and broken. The necessity of some such arrange, John Soane, esq. The evidence of Mr. Spiller, ment will be apparent by a reference to the the librarian of the house of commons, esta- evidence of Mr. Hansard, who has informed blishes the insufficiency of the library for its your committee, that only one complete copy of purpose; that of Mr. Whittam, the clerk of these papers is at the present moment in his the journals, the insufficiency of the place of possession. Your committee recommend, that reception for the journals; and that of Mr. at the close of every session complete sets of the Soane, the expediency of selecting the spot, printed papers should be deposited iu the library comprehending part of Cotton Garden, between of the British Museum, the Bodleian and Camthe Long Gallery and the river, for the purpose bridge university library, the library of Trinity of building new committee rooms, and a library College, Dublin, and the advocates' library at for the house of commons. Edinburgh.

Whenever the house shall conceive it ex

The following is the third report of the same pedient to direct a reprint of the reports, your committee:

committee conceive that the proceedings of commissioners, whether appointed under statute or in consequence of an address, should be included in the new edition ordered. Previously to the union with Ireland, few reports of this description were laid before parliament; but, since that period, many subjects of the greatest importance have been subjected to this mode of inquiry; and the same principles of selection should direct the arrangement of the reports of commissioners and the reports of the committees of the house.

A general index to the sessional papers has been prepared by Mr. Hansard, the printer to the house; your committee recommend its completion to the accession of his present majesty, and consider it necessary that it should be printed for the use of the house.

In obedience to the order of reference, your committee have proceeded to inquire into the state of the printed reports and papers presented to the house. Referring to the report made by the select committee, appointed for a similar purpose in 1803, they directed an arrangement to be made of selected reports, similar to that adopted in the collection of fifteen volumes already printed. This arrangement will be found in the Appendix. The reports comprised in this catalogue have all been presented during the period from the year 1801 to the present time. The importance of the subjects that have engaged the attention of parliament during the interval, renders the reports, both of committees and of commissioners, of the greatest public interest. In these reports various questions are discussed relating to the administration of justice, the privileges of parliament, arts and manufactures, agriculture and trade, education, criminal law, and police; and it is obvious, that the preservation of documents of this description, and their arrangement in such a form as to be available for the purposes of reference, are of the greatest importance. The same motives which induced the house in 1803 to reprint a selection of the reports then existing, appear to your committee sufficient to war-edition in the larger folio, and one of the same rant a continuation of the series. But as a very considerable number of copies of these reports are still preserved in warehouses, your committee do not feel themselves warranted at the present moment in recommending to the house the commencement of such an undertaking.

Three hundred and seventy-three volumes, including all papers, have been printed by the authority of the house since the year 1800, of which the most valuable reports, both of committees and of commissioners, contained in this collection, might all be comprised in thirty folio

volumes.

A reprint of these reports your committee consider deserving of the attention of the house at some future period; and they consider, that with regard to the sessional papers hereafter

The set of printed papers now deposited in the custody of the clerk of the journals, being more complete than that in the care of the librarian, your committee recommend that it should be transferred to the library, as a place of more convenient access and reference.

Whenever a reprint of the reports is directed, the house will have to consider how far it is expedient, in the new series, to adhere to the size and arrangement adopted by the committee of 1803. The difference of cost between an

size as the sessional papers, has been stated at fifty per cent; a consideration of considerable importance in a work of magnitude and expense.

The classification to which your committee have referred applies at present, except in a few instances, to reports only. It has occurred to your committee, that a similar classification might with much utility be adopted as to the papers. Those of each session are arranged with as much attention to similarity of subjects as the case admits; and, for the papers of each | session, perhaps no better arrangement could be adopted. But it appears to your committee, that where the papers of a period embracing several sessions are to be preserved, a classification, similar to that which is adopted in regard the reports, that is, a classification by subjects,

1st July, 1825.

not by years, would be found more convenient. ciple of classification, for the library of the They will at present only suggest, that one set house. of papers, for the longest period of which the number of copies in store will allow, should be, in the first instance, made up, upon this prin

An appendix to the report contains the minutes of evidence to which the report refers.

THE END.

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