30 JUNE 1906, Page 18

Later, Mr. Birrell, defending the four-fifths clause, denied that it

had been drawn with a view of benefiting one denomination more than another. Mr. Chamberlain followed with one of those sub-secularist speeches which, strangely enough, always seem to draw applause from the Opposi- tion. In the end, however, the Government plan was carried by 170 (312 to 142). An amendment to which we have alluded in our leading article, proposed by Lord Robert Cecil, which would allow Clause IV. to operate in single-school areas, was also rejected by a majority of 170. When the hour for applying the Closure arrived, several of the amendments standing in the name of Mr. Birrell were passed without debate, and the clause was finally added to the Bill. The fifth clause was also adopted without debate.