In the House of Commons on Monday :Sir George Tre-
velyan proposed, on behalf of the Government, that all Bills
relating to Scotland shall be referred to a Grand Committee consisting of all the Scotch Members, together with fifteen other Members nominated by the Committee of Selection. Sir George Trevelyan declared that Scotland could not get fair legislative treatment, unless some scheme of the kind was adopted. "We offer the Scottish Members a proposal for enabling them, at one of the most important periods of process in the manufacture of their Bills, to have those Bills moulded in accordance with Scottish opinion ; and as far as we can influence and advise English, Welsh, and Irish Mem- bers, we shall ask them not to thwart the Scottish Members but to assist them in obtaining what we know to be the wish and what we believe to be the interest of Scotland." In other words, the small Government majority in the House as a whole is, by a piece of Parliamentary sleight-of-hand, to be changed for Scottish purposes into an overwhelming majority. The Grand Committee would, said Sir George, be a microcosm of the House in Committee. In fact, it would be the House in Committee on Scotch business, because none but Scotch Members ever attend the House on such occasions. The ordinary Grand Committees, when English business comes before them, are practically English Committees,—not a very fair argument, because they are Committees on which the Government is always placed in a majority. To Mr. Balfour's speech against the motion we have alluded elsewhere, and will only note here that he moved an amendment declaring that the House would not sanction the proposal till they had under their consideration a scheme applicable to all portions of the United Kingdom.
Previous page
