Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-22 00:00:00

ROCHDALE ELECTION.

MEETING OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE, AND
EXCLUSION OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.

On Saturday the select 'committee, appointed by the
House of Commons to inquire into the allegations con-
tained in the petition of Mr. Newsll, parliamentary agent,
complaining that a witness, named Abraham ti othwell,
had been tampered with, assembled in Room No. 12, at
one o'clock. At the hour named for the assembling of the
committee there were present the Attorney-General for
Ireland, Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Henley, Horsman, Mr.
Egerton, and Sir H Willoughby.
The room was much crowded by members of the house
not on the committee, and by the public.
Oct the motion of Mr. HENLEY, the Attorney. General for
Ireland was called to the chair.

The Cuentat AN directed strangerA to withdraw.
The room was then cleared, and the corridor at once
became thronged by those anxious to be present at the
investigation.
After a delay of a few minutes, the committee sent out
the following order, which was affixed to the entrance
doors :—" Ordered, that strangers be not admitted during
the investigation until further orders."
Mr. NEWAIL, whose petition had given rise to the in-
quiry, was then called in ; and very considerable annoy-
ance seemed to be experienced by the members of the
house, who found themselves excluded from the com-
mittee room. More than one of them had some
conversation with members of the committee, who came
to the door for the purpose of hearing what the excluded
had to say.. . . .

After another interval the clerk of the committee came
outside, and read a resolution which the committee had
come to, and- which was to the effect tbat the objects of
the committee would be best promoted by the investiga-
tion being carried on solely in the presence of the members
nominated on the committee. This resolution seemed to
give still more dissatisfaction to the members of the louse
not on the committee, who had thought that they should
be permitted to be present at the proceedings, though not
to take any.part in them.
Mr. F. FRENCH said he considered Ale course adopted
by the committee was against all precedent, and he
objected to it as establishing a very objectionable principle.
Viscount GODERICH and other hon. members appeared
to take the same view of the matter.

As the order posted on the doors, by direction of the
committee, only went to the extent of excluding strangers
until " further orders," _ _

Some gentlemen connected with the press sent in a note
to Mr. Roebuck, to ask whether it was likely that
strangers would be admitted at a later period of the pro-
ceedings.
Mr. ROEBUCK appeared at the door of the committee
room, and said that the investigation would be private.
Mr. F. FRENCH, addressing the hon. member for
Sheffield, said—l think the committee might as well have
ordered us out, and abut the door on us, as tell us that
they did not wish us to be present.
Mr. ROEBUCK : W6ll, I agree with you that it comes to
pretty much the same thing. (Laughter.) I can do
nothing in the matter.
Mr. Roebuck then returned to his place on the com-
mittee, and the excluded M.P.'s and strangers retired from
the house.