HOUSE OF LORDS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 45, 21 August 1931, Page 8

HOUSE OF LORDS

THE EARL OF ONSLOW

RESPONSIBLE OFFICE

In the House of Lords on 29th April Lord; Onslow was elected by general consent Lord Chairman of Committees in succession to Lord Donoughinore. His appointment was proposed by Lord Parmoor and supported by Lord Hailsham, Lord Beauchamp, Lord Wemyss, and the Lord Chancellor. . When in New Zealand many years ago, the Earl of Onslow's title was Viscount Cranley. Lord Parmoor said that the appointment was a matter entirely in tho hands of Their Lordships, without any interference from outside, either from the Government, or. any other party, aud therefore he had thought it right to consult with Lord Hailsham and Lord Beauchamp as to the best appointees whom they could suggest to take' over the onerous duties of Lord Chairman, who was largely responsible for the regularity and order of the business in that House, and more particularly of the private business, which he regarded as a very important part of their legislative duties. They were all agreed in suggesting that Lord Onslow should be appointed to fill the vacant office. Lord Onslow had had a large experience of business in that House. He first came there more than 20 years ago in succession to his father, and he had occupied a series of offices during the time he had been a member of the House. In all those offices he had shown a keen business power and appreciation of the duties and privileges which the House possessed. (Cheers.) "Viscount Hailsham said the difficulty of selecting a suitable person to fill the office of Lord Chairman lay rather in the wealth of material from which they could select than in any difficulty in finding a suitable person, and he was quite sure that ia this resolution a very wise, and he hoped very fortunate, choice had been made. Lord Onslow would bring to the office a very long experience of public service. He had repeatedly been Chairman of Boyal Commissions and various Committees, and his knowledge of the intricacies of local government would stand him in good stead in the duties which he was about to perform. ■ Earl Beauchamp considered it was particularly suitable that their Lordships should appoint a noble lord whose ancestry was connected with this kind of business in the past. He could not but remember that in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries there had been ancestors or collateral ancestors of Lord Onslow who had been connected with duties of-this kind or as Speakers of the House of Commons in the Elizabethan, Stuart, and Hanoverian periods. Lord Onslow's father was a most acceptable Chairman of Committees who was- respected by all their Lordships, and whose conspicuous fairness was greatly admired. Lord Onslow could have no" higher ambition than the hope that'he might fill ■the duties of his office as well as his father' had done.-(Cheers.) On behalf of the peers who sat on the Liberal benches he offered Lord Onslow their cordial support. , : The Earl of Wemyss saia that, as the doyen of those who habitually served as chairman of their Lordships' Committees, he wished to congratulate Lord Onslow on his appointment and to express the confident belief that in the difficult task of ; succeeding Lord Donoughmore he would achieve success. ,-■ ■ ■ • • The Lord Chancellor, supporting the motion, said that the appointment would be welcomed by every member of the House. .'•• . ■■.'.'■ ;■' . .:

The motion was carried.