In regard to the Fifth Report of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges I desire to say that it embodies a complete new draft of Standing Orders, which in practice means that the existing Standing Orders would have to be annulled and the proposed Orders adopted. Deputies who have read the Report have seen that the proposed new Standing Orders have been subjected to a number of processes. They were first prepared by the Clerk and his assistants after consultation with me. They were then gone over by myself, and afterwards submitted to an informal conference of certain Deputies whose advice it was thought desirable to obtain. They were then considered by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, who made certain amendments. For certain reasons it would be desirable that the Standing Orders should be adopted before the Recess, so that work could be done upon them during the Recess. The suggestion is that the Report be put down for consideration on Thursday next. If in the interval Deputies who are particularly interested desire to have any point explained, they could apply to any member of the Committee or to myself, and we might, perhaps, be able to settle the matter. If, on Thursday, it was discovered that there was no serious objection to any part of these Standing Orders, I think, in view of the general business, we could proceed with them. In many important respects we are following in practice, not the Standing Orders by which we are bound, but those contained in the draft. They are, to a large extent, the product of our own practice. If that is agreeable, we will make an Order fixing the consideration of the Report for next Thursday.
Ordered accordingly.