STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE (REPORT OF THE).

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1900 Session I, I-09

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1900. NEW ZEALAND.

STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE (REPORT OF THE).

Brought up in the House of Representatives, 31st July, 1900, and ordered to be printed.

ORDER OF REFERENCE. Extract from the Journals of the House of Representatives. Tuesday, the 3bd Day of July, 1900. Ordered, " That a Standing Orders Committee be appointed; three to be a quorum: the Committee to consist of Mr. Speaker, Mr. Fisher, Mr. W. Fraser, Mr. Guinness, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Palmer, Captain Russell, Hon. Major Steward, Mr. Symes, and the Mover." —(Kt. Hon. R. J. Seddon.)

BEPOBT. The Standing Orders Committee recommend that the following alterations be made in the Standing Orders of the House : — 35. Omit the following Standing Order: When an Amendment is proposed, the Debate is confined to the subject-matter of that Amendment, and the general rule of relevancy applies, unless the Amendment be treated by the Government as a vote of Want of Confidence, in which case the fullest latitude of debate is accorded. 55. To be amended as follows : Notioe-ef Motion cihall bo oallod on aftor Twolvo o'olook at night. The Speaker or Chairman of Committees shall leave the chair at Twelve o'clock on Saturday night, and no sitting of the House shall take place between Twelve o'clock on Saturday night and Qse Half-past Two o'clock on Monday morniag afternoon. 56. To be amended as follows : Except in the cases mentioned in Nos. 45, 48, aad 50, and 55, when Mr. Speaker adjourns the House without putting any Question, the House can only be adjourned by its own Eesolution. 57 and 58. Transfer to Miscellaneous, page 80, after No. 432. 172 a. New Standing Order : Notices of Motion placed by Government before Orders of the Day continue to be dealt with after 7.30 on Government days. 73. To be amended as follows : The Orders of the Day are to be disposed of in the order in which they stand upon the Paper, the right being reserved to Ministers of placing Government Orders or Government Motions at the head of the list, in the rotation in which they are to be taken, on the days (Taeadayo and Fridays) on which Government business has precedence; but such business, if not disposed of on those days, shall revert to that position on the Order Paper which it would have occupied if it had not been advanced as Government business. 74. To omit the following Standing Order: Private Members' Motions and Bills shall take precedence of all Government Orders, and Orders in charge of Members of the Government, on Wednesdays throughout the Session. (Omission not to come into force until next session.) 74. New Standing Order: There shall be no Questions on the Order Paper for Wednesdays, and for the first six weeks of the Session Private Members' Motions shall take precedence on that day until disposed of, after which Private Members' Public Bills shall be dealt with. At the expiration of six weeks Government business takes precedence on Wednesdays. (Not to come into force until next session.) 77. To be amended as follows: All dropped Orders of the Day are to be set down i» on the Order-book Paper after the Orders of the Day for the next day on which the House shall sit. Standing Order 382 to be transferred to page 18, after No. 77.

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!78a. New Standing Order: When the Government signifies that a Motion is an unopposed Motion for a Beturn, the Speaker shall put the Motion to the House, unless six Members stand up in their places to signify that it is an opposed Motion. 80. To be amended as follows : Except on Wednesdays and, for the first six weeks of the Session, on Thursdays, before the public business is entered upon, Questions are permitted to be put to Ministers of the Crown relating to public affairs, and to other Members relating to any Bill, Motion, or other public matter connected with the business of the House in which such Members may be concerned. 182 a. New Standing Order: No Notices of Questions shall be given for a date more than two clear weeks in advance. Standing Order 83 transferred to page 23, to precede No. 104. 88. To be amended as follows : No Notice may be given for any day beyond tbe-peried-wfeieh allew-aaee-boing made-jer-aay integyeaiag-adjeafatasat-ei—tae-Heaae—and tae-pefied bolag in that oaoo do jar oxtondod ao to inolude four Notiee—dayo falling duriag tho oittmg of the-Heaee? 89. Omit the following Standing Order: Notices of Motions take precedence of Orders of the Day on Wednesdays, unless the House shall have otherwise directed. (Vide new Standing Order 74 herewith, and not to come into force until next session.) 103. To be amended as follows : No Member shall speak for more than half an hour at a time in any Debate in the House, except in the Debate on the Address in Beply, or on the Financial Statement, or in a Debate on a Motion of " No Confidence," or in moving the second reading of a Bill, or on the-Bebato on tho Appropriation Bill, when a Member shall be at liberty to speak for one hour. In asking a question of a Minister a Member shall be allowed two minutes. In Committee of the House no Member shall speak for more than ten minutes at any one time, or more than lea? ti»ee twice on any one Question before the Committee: Provided that this rule shall not apply in Committee to a Member in charge of a Bill, or to a Minister when delivering the Financial Statement in Committee of Supply, or, in regard to the number of his speeches, to a Minister in charge of a Class of the Estimates in Committee of Supply. Standing Order 83 to be transferred from page 23 to precede 104. 1151 a. New Standing Order: Mr. Speaker or the Chairman of Committees may order a Member whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the House during the remainder of that day's sitting. 157. To be amended as follows : A Member who has spoken on the Main Question may not again enter upon it when speaking to the Question of Adjournment er to an Amendment. 158. To be amended as follows: When an Amendment is moved, the Debate must be confined to the Amendment, unless it be of such a nature as to involve the consideration or decision of the Main Question (of which Mr. Speaker is the judge), in which case both the Main Question and the Amendment are open for discussion, bat-by— eaoh Membero only -ao havo not opokon to tho Main 1 ninnli f\n 162. To be amended as follows : A Member who has spoken to the Main Question, or to any Motion which involves the Main Question, may not move or second an Amendment (oxoopt in Coinmittoo); the Adjournment of the House, the x\djournment of the Debate, the Previous Question, or a Motion to proceed to the Orders of the Day or a particular Order. Ho may opoak to any 6n pn ynn'Hrtn /AYPPTyf*. tnn Prrwinun (n'lf'r'Hn'n l TniTplo nfiTi i\/Ti*vmr w "'** mil- tmin-f n /-,-n -ft -n /■> lri a «atm n v>lt-.-i tttjtl tttXTVTVTTI 1 T7VK.OG fJV tJXXUa. lO V tUUtI J —TV IHJI-T IIIKWX.C U IT "OltlU IIIIUILt.TX.UXXT UUi • t HITI - TTTI IMli—l ';< MM I 11^—{ ttB —M'l'UvlKrj Th/wfiTn o-nrl iyiciit t-i /-.T- r\ r\ t~i r> Tr\ flin rtfl r\i-ri I liiAnrinn tlifurnirynn WIWC WIKJ) tWUCt 111 Cl'y HtJ TJ \X\j UZXW UUKs 3TXf ttlll Llt-D UIVII DllVJl UU.JJWIXI Closure of Debate. 169 a. After a Question has been proposed, a Member rising in his place may claim to move, " That the Question be now put," and unless it shall appear to the Chair that such Motion is an abuse of the Bules of the House, or an infringement of the rights of the minority, the Question, " That the Question be now put," shall be put forthwith, and decided without Amendment or Debate, but such Motion is not to be declared to be carried unless not less than thirty Members vote with the majority. When the Motion, " That the Question be now put," has been carried, and the Question consequent thereon has been decided, any further Motion may be made (the assent of the Chair as aforesaid not having been withheld) which may be requisite to bring to a decision any Question already proposed from the Chair. Also if a Clause be then under consideration, a Motion may be made (the assent of the Chair as aforesaid not having been withheld), That the Question, That certain words of the Clause defined in the Motion stand part of the Clause, or, after all amendments proposed have been disposed of, that the Clause stand part of or be added to the Bill, be now put. Such Motions shall be put forthwith, and decided without Amendment or Debate.

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189. Omit the following Standing Order: When such a Eesolution has been agreed to, or an Order of the Day read for the House to resolve itself into Committee, Mr. Speaker puts a Question, " That I do now leave the Chair," which being agreed to, he leaves the Chair accordingly. 271. Omit the following Standing Order as no longer acted on : It is the sole duty of the Managers of the one House to read and deliver to the Managers of the other House the Besolutions of the other House on Bills, with reasons for insisting upon Amendments or disagreements to Amendments, or otherwise. 297. Omit the following Standing Order : No printed or lithographed Petition will be received if it contains any erasure or interlineation. 298. To be amended as follows : Every erasure or interlineation in a writton Petition must be signed or initialled at opposite each cad ci such erasure or interlineation by tho pefoon or some of the persons signing the Petition, aad-all ouch oraouroo or mtorlinoationo muot bo indorood and duly . oignod and attootod on tho baok of ovory ouoh Potition by tho potitionor or potitionoro. 336. To be amended as follows : When it is intended to refer a Bill to a Select Committee the second reading may be moved pro forma, without speech, and in such case there shall be no Debate etbor than tho opeooh of tho Movoe? New Standing Order 344 a. When a Bill is introduced amending any Section or Sections in an Act no new Clauses or Amendments may be moved unless they deal solely with the particular object of the amending Bill. 354. To be amended as follows : On a clause being offered in Committee, or on tho oonoideration of Boport, Mr. Spoakor, or the Chairman is to desire the Member to bring up the same, whereupon it is to be read a first time without Question put; feat no olauoo io to bo offorod on con sideration of Boport without notico. Standing Order 382 to be transferred to page 18, after No. 77. 383. Omit the following Standing Order: When Private Members' Public Bills become dropped Orders they are to be set down upon the Order Paper after the Orders set down for the next day, and shall be arranged as follows, viz. : (1) Bills for Committal dr for further consideration in Committee ; (2) Second readings. 391. To be amended as follows : At the commencement of every Session a Local Bills Committee, consisting of Ten Members, shall be appointed, to whom all Local Bills shall stand referred after their first reading; the Committee to report whether the Standing Orders have been complied with and to suggest such amendments as they may think proper, and to report when necessary upon the merits of the Bill. Every member in charge of a Local Bill shall, ipso facto, be a member of the Committee while his Bill is under consideration, whether he is nominated of the Committee or not. Transfer 57 and 58 from page 14, to follow No. 432. 417. Omit the following Standing Order as not now acted on : When a formal Motion for going into Committee of Supply is made, and an Amendment is moved thereto, the Debate is confined to the subject-matter of the Amendment (unless it be accepted as a vote of Want of Confidence) until it is disposed of ; but, if the Minister make a Speech in moving the House into Committee, that Speech may immediately be commented on, although an Amendment should intervene. 419. To be verbally amended as follows : When a Motion is made in Committee of Supply to romit omit or reduce any item of a Vote, a Question shall be proposed from the Chair for omitting or reducing such item accordingly ; and Members shall speak to such Question only until it has been disposed of. 432. Strangers may at any time, even during debate, be ordered to withdraw from the body of the House and the whole of the galleries, on a motion without notice to that effect being put and carried ; but no Amendment or Debate shall be allowed on that Question ; and in his own discretion Mr. Speaker or the Chairman of Committees may at any time order strangers to withdraw. G. Maubice O'Bobke, Tuesday, 31st July, 1900. Chairman. Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation, not given; printing (1,375 copies), £1 19s.

By Authority: John Mackav, Government Printer, Wellington.—l9oo. Price 3d.]