Sir, I would rather have not spoken but duty compels me to say a word, though it may not be very pleasant. The procedure which is now proposed to be adopted to stifle discussion on a motion which is moved from the Chair. I submit, is one which is unheard of. Whatever knowledge of parliamentary procedure that I possess, I submit with all the earnestness at my command that the Chair should only move a motion which is accepted by the whole House and that even if there is one man–I am not talking of two–who wants to move an amendment,–then the business of the Chair is to say immediately that it will not move such a motion but call upon some member to move it. If the Government of the day sponsor this motion, let them do so, but let not the Chair be a party to stifling discussion in the House on the ground that a proposition has been moved from the Chair.
