The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-11 00:00:00

-----
reference to the probable results of sanctioning.
ni a d e
investigatedbyaseltehcet neuvmidbeenreeofaciitdsumceedmbbeefrosrwe hthoemhati
scheme, whereas it will not act upon the opinio
of men perhaps better fitted than its own membet.
to determine the point at issue. Whether
0:
assumption on which this practice is based is. ,
which is reasonable, and whether the practice
is
elf its.cwoenrdeu ct ihvee
pointsto th the
raised interests
by ofLo therd np.
large,
t This is not the first occasio
s evening.
motion
on which tar under
system has been brought
our legislative
of Commons, it having alread,
notice of the House
furnished subject-mete
ter for consideration to
expediency of this singular adjunct
special meeting. The tee • and the resolution o
peielished a short time sin,,la rensibly couched'
the member for Stamford wee ne. .r of that repot
public
accordance with the general teneete e
There are two points of view fret may be re
ort of this cohmicttttheee
mu
chinery of Parliamentary committees e ee tb
garded. namely, in reference to its beaeeee is 0
interests of the public, and on those of mers.oi9.l
Parliament. Regarded in the former lighty Jeio
R. Cecil condemned the system as haling to see ie
the ends for which it was established ; regareeeeing
the latter, he equally disapprovedof it as ilt3P°,,aes
upon private members a great and unneccest-
amount of labour. Dismissing for the nicnealeis
consideration of the former class of objectione,•lo,
unquestionable teat of late years private Paelje ea
atne
tary business has increased to an extent which
ders the office of member of Parliament somethl
far different from that easy sinecure which the large
majority of the public believe it to be. Of the boat'
coun_"l„
nees transacted in the committee rooms the
learns nothing, and not a few suppose that eeiree
tonal duties consist in little else than heingelt)ant
sent in " the House" on the occasion of imports
divisions. The first of the objections taken by tee
R. Cecil to the present system rested ul3°on.,,et
ground that, as the public business of Parl'ttere
was, to say the least of it, of as important a nerod
as that which, for the sake of distinction, is teroce.
private, it was indispensable to introduce each :ova
fications as would enable the members of the 'e the
of Commons to discharge the former as well as
s.
latter class of duties. That, under the existineeree,
tern, the public business is neglected, he ave.- ce
was
the evening sittingstheasdemonstratedbyof b
tetauocitHyoeu andfeeTe
bat tetade"
at a,
creasing frequency of " countseout." To the gages
ral modus operandi of Parliamentary conelnitteesata
raised those objections which have again allde:fed,
been advanced, and which, it must be COten'e-eser
have never been satisfactorily answered. ereast
competency of the tribunal, the unreaesoffah'e,erest
incurred by the proceedings, the manifest inieuce
which every one professionali engaged befogs to
committees has in protracting the inquire') °dater°
wearisome, and not unfrequently irrelevant, rj-ear•
of the details elicited, were all in turn cited se the
nishing the most cogent reasons for reforming or
present mode of investigation by Parliamentary coot
mittees. The evils, to say the truth, are tranePof e
' o
enough, and their demonstration was a neetter;
great difficulty • but unfortunately the remedy ap,
which Lord R. Cecil proposed to eradicate then 7 to
pears by no means so well calculated to enencieeg
proposed end as its sanguine originator evaett the
to believe. 'With the fundamental principle,"7g" of
House of Commons must in the last resort Julese
the expediency or otherwise of sanctioning ',re,
miscellaneous projects which are embodied ,irjrf're;
vats bills, Lord R. Cecil did not pre•pose to inLe—fects
he merely suggested that a large tress of
on which, under the present mode of the ee
pTC&d,ll,rifie,
Parliamentary committee is called upon to "rtific
might be determined by arbitrators or se' ab•
witnesses appointed by the promoters °f, ,a.l,3eneett,
jectors to, the measure submitted to Paree.l-00
Although, however, the member for Stamlnr" le
able to cite from experience examples or Is: ia
which committees had been occupied for 'A% ea
determining facts which might, by the on"; des
proposed, have easily and expeditiously he,ne-pe of
sided, he was unable to give the house any De-eald
the manner in which in future those feet' nme-ets.
be left for the decision of arbitrators or efflie,ite
Nor ought the difficulty to have occasioned earl,
any surprise, if he reflected that a Parliarootf a
committee virtually exercises the functions tlioe
jury; that everything submitted for its considered, be
is purely a question of fact; and that it wo° aei
just as impossible to determine beforehand by
fixed rules what questions a committee should reed
to arbitration as to define what facts a jury
Sa
take for granted because particular witnesses clivr.
to depose to them. The question, after slip
as
Milner Gibson pointed out, resolves itself into tb' se
Is the subject matter of a railway scheme, or s° of
similar project, to be investigated by the Hen''
~,,0
Commons or not ? If the latter, then the Ins.
abandons to some other tribunal its legislative in`e,
tions,. but if the former, then a Parliamentary ctl;
mittee must itself sift the evidence up an yvtiico
bases its recommendations. Private bill legislati°'
is simply law-making of an exceptional kind, 9%d
law making must, under all circumstances, he;
laborious task. The legislator cannot consistent'',,
delegate his duties to another. But although ,-
scheme such es that suggested by Lord R. Ctce-1
cannot be adopted, many important reforms II), sh'e
with ease be effected in the present system.
expense attendant on Parliamentary inquiries iefnee
gross public scandal; and we think that, if see,
means were adopted by which the cost of these 10:
vestegations was materially diminished, Parliarnene
tary agents and counsel would do their work ninfire
expeditiously; and thus much profitless igh°
would be saved to those whose duty it is to Sit „"ti
Parliamentary committees.