The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-24 00:00:00

REFORNI PETITIONS.

Mr. POWEMAN took that opportunity of asking the
Nnide Lord the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he
had considered any plan by whi4 the very numerous peti,
tions in favour of Reform could he presented, without in-
terfering with the, usual business of the UQ,use.,?
Lord ALTHORV said, that certainty it was proper that
the petitions should Ha pwaented before the discussion came
on ; and hg did nut know any other mode of effecting that
object, except by the House sitting on Saturday.
HUMS concurred with the Noble rt..ot-11 in that
respect, but suggested, that as tlr4 'House was thus com•
pelled to break in upon t_e stay usually reserved for the
necessary relief of the Speaker, it should be ar, uuder-
standiez that the sitting should not continue rater than six
.
o'clock.
The SPEAKER—Thew will updoubtedl4y Le great
difficulty in making any amangement that shall be satis-
factory to eery one with vespeot to the time of the re-
ceipt: of petitious upon this momentous subject. I ant
sure that the House will feel, and will do me the credit
of believing that I feel, anxious there should be no 17,2... r-
epresentation in the public mind, that this .!7cnse IS unwil-
ling to extend, to the utmost pose;,h4t limit, the time for
receiving petitions. It is h. possible, as it has been said,
to stretch the day to more than twenty-four hours, and
public convenience has, therefore, required that as the
pressure of other matters is consideraUe, we should go
into the business of the day at live o'clock: Time, how-
ever, is allowed for presenting petitions after the ordinary
business has been gone through, as well as before it has
begun ; and at the close of the night every *tuber has the
opportunity, if lie has the strength—(Hear, hear)—to
present petitions. Still, however, many petitions remain
to be presented, and no other mode of getting them pre-
sented suggested itself to me but the proposition now made
by the Noble Lord. If, therefore, it meets the wish of the
House, I should suggest that the chair should be taken at

such an hour u will really give Members an epporttinity
o f presenting , and I will for that purpose
come
k. At the same time that I
s
hope that the House will en-
thdiwl mat
t these
sttwelve
express
p petitions, is toimo,
yi b
e s
en-
able rue to do this with effect, and that Menabtrs will at
that hour assemble in sufficient numbers to prevent the
necessity of my sitting at the table without being able to
form a House.—(Hear, liar.) I propose, therefore, with
the approbation of the House, to come donna here and
take the chair at twelve o'clock Qtl Saturday.
Lord ALTHORP observed, that the ready sacrifice of
necessary relaxation thin made by the Speaker must be
received by the House with great satisfaction.—(Cheers.)
He hoped that on Saturday no other business would be in-
troduced but the presentation of Reform petition!, and that
the House would meet exactly at twelve, and not sit be-
yond six.
The SPEAKER said—l am very much flattered by
the manner in which the House has received my sug-
gestion ; in making which, I feel that I have done no more
than my duty, and I may honestly add, that I believe the
same thing would have been done under similar circum-
stances by any individual who might have the high honour
to occupy this Chair. There is one other point which I
wish to mention. The whole object we have in view will
lie defeated it we do not succeed in gett"ng three ballots on
Eiday ; for the House is aware, that by the recent Act
of Parliament, no business whatever can be proceeded fir
till those ballots have been disposed of.. Hon. Members
must, therefore, attend the House on Friday, if they wish
the arrangement for Saturday. to be tffectuar.
Mr. C. WYNNE, to meet this difficulty, suggest,d that
there should be a call of the House on Friday next, and a
motion for that purpose was accordingly made.—Ordered.