The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-12-06 00:00:00

DURATION OF PARLIAMENTS.

On the duration of Parliaments, The Times has published

the following letter :

Sir,—The correspondence in your columns upon this
subject, occasioned by certain expressions in a recent
speech of Mr. Gladstone, seems to raise two distinct
questions—first, whether precedents exist for holding
a seventh session of any one Parliament; and, secondly,
whether in the case of the present Parliament a
maximum interval of time has been allowed to elapse
between the opportunities afforded to the electorate of
expressing approval or condemnation of the mode in
y is being governed.
ring to discuss the relative importance
wofhWtichhietshtehotue u
wtc venturing to
I ask leave to trespass on your
space by contributing a few facts pertinent to their
solution. Since the Union in 1800 21 Parliaments
have been summoned. In three of them—the 7th,
14th, and 18th Parliaments of the United Kingdom—
s seventh Session was held. How far the extra Ses-
sion in each is to be regarded as a normal working
Session may be judged by the following table :

SEVENTH .PARLIAMENT.

Fos; Session .. 1820 April 21 to November 23*
Second „ .. 1821 .. January 23 to July 11
Third „ .. 1822 February 3to August 6
Fourth „ .. 1823 .. February 4to July 19
Fifth „ 1324 February 3to June 25
Sixth 1825 .. February 3to July 6
Seventh „ • .. 1828 .. February 2to May 31
* Trial of Queen Caroline.

FOURTEENTH PARLIAMENT.
First Session .. 1841 .. August 19 to October 7
Second „ .. 1842 .. February 3to August 12
Third „ .. 1843 .. February 2to August 21
Fourth „ .. 1844 .. February Ito September 5
Fifth „ .. 1815 .. February 4to August 9
Sixth „ 1846 .. January 22 to August 28
Seventh „ .. 1847 .. January 19 to July 23
EIGHTEENTH PARLIAMENT.
First Session .. 1859 .. May 31 to August 13
Second „ .. 1860 .. January 24 to August 28
Third „ 1861 .. February 3to August 6
Fourth „ .. 1862 .. February 6to August 7
Filth „ 1863 .. February sto July 28
Sixth „ 1864 .. February 4to July 29
Seventh „ 1865 .. February 7to July 6
The duration of these three Parliaments respectively
was :

1820-1826 ..
1841-1847 ..
.1869-1865 ..

r. M. D.
6 1 9
5 11 6
6 1 6

The present Parliament vras summoned for the 4th
of March, 1874, and assembled on that day. If, there-
fore, it should survive until the 14th of April next, it
will not only have run into a seventh Session, but It
will have exceeded in duration any previous Parlia-
ment summoned since the Union, and, as a matter of
fact, will have hem the longest lived Parliament for
more than a century.—l am, Sir, your obedient
servant, T. W. SNAGGE.
Temple, Nov. 28,
11. R. D. writes to 2h,e Times :

-
Sir,—l find that since the Reform Bill of 1832 it has
only twice happened that a Prime Minister has advised
the Sovereign to dissolve a House of Commons in
which he had a majority—viz,, Lord Palmerston in
1865 and Mr. Gladstone in 1874.

Sir Robert Peel was in a minority in 1835. In 1841
a vote of want of confidence had been carried against
Lord Melbourne. Lori John Russell was in a mini).
rity in 1816, and Lord Derby in 1852. Lord Palmerston
had been defeated on the China vote in 1857, and Lord
Derby's Reform Bill had been rejected in 1859. In
1868 Mr. Disraeli was in a minority.
- - -

---
Therefore, Lord Palmerston's and Mr. Gladstone's
dissolutions are de only modern precedents available
for testing the alleged rule against keeping a Parlia-
ment for its list poesible Session. As Mr. Gladstone
dissolved a Parliament which was capable of lasting
two complete Sessions his case proves nothing either
way. The only remaining precedent, Lord Palmers-
don's, is a4ainst the rule. He delayed dissolving a
Parliament elected in May, 1859, until July, 1865,
when it was no longer capable of lasting another com-
plete Session before its necessary dissolution in May,
1866,