I move—

seconded.

May I point out to the Prime Minister that one of the days affected by his motion is the 19th of February, where a notice of motion in my name appears on the Order Paper asking for a select committee to be appointed to enquire and report upon certain grave irregularities in connection with the administration of justice. Will the Prime Minister give us the assurance that he will appoint a select committee? Surely it is reasonable for the Prime Minister to devote a little time to dealing with such a pressing matter as that raised in my notice of motion. I am raising this because I want the public and the country to know whether it is the Prime Minister’s considered opinion that this matter is of such slight importance that it can be pushed aside in the manner in which it apparently will be if this motion by the Prime Minister is passed.

I would like to ask the Prime Minister what is the position of members who have brought forward private Bills. By the motion now before the House, the 19th is being taken away and the 22nd as well. The effect will be that all private Bills down for the 22nd will never be reached and all notices of motion down for the 19th will not be reached. So in effect this is enlarging the motion which was passed the other day. Two very important private Bills are down for the 22nd, one dealing with the question of women whose husbands die intestate and the other with the position of law agents, but they will not be reached at all. In effect the net result of the whole thing will be that private members will have had one Tuesday and one Friday in which to debate the very important matters they have brought forward. I do not think it is at all fair to private members, however short the session may be, that so very little opportunity should be given of bringing forward important matters in the public interest. I would like to ask whether all notices of motion and Bills down for the 19th and the 22nd will be unable to be dealt with during the present session.

I should like to point out there is not only this difficulty raised by the hon. member for Hanover Street (Mr. Alexander), but there is a further difficulty, that very little time is given for the country to consider the native Bills which the Prime Minister, I assume, proposes to deal with next week in the joint session. There is no doubt that when the Prime Minister gave notice of taking the time of the House from the 26th, he had in his mind that up to that date members would have command of Tuesdays and Fridays, but as the hon. member has pointed out, the motion now on the paper would anticipate that and the Government would practically take the time of the House a week earlier, and it is therefore a very serious departure from the original intention of the Prime Minister. I raise a further difficulty which I think is a very serious one, that the country ought to have more time to read these Bills. These two Bills were published last Saturday I believe, and it takes a considerable time for these Bills to go to the other provinces. The object of this motion is to devote next week for the reception of these Bills. If that is so, I say not sufficient time is given and I would urge the Prime Minister very strongly to take the adjournment a week later so that next week we shall continue to go on with our ordinary work in this House and give effect to the original intention by which members would have their time up to the 26th of February. If our time is not taken for the Joint session next week it will be possible for the Prime Minister to carry out the original intention and the Government will only take command of the time of the House from the 26th. I therefore urge very strongly that the adjournment of the House, so as to give opportunity for the joint, session, should be a week later and should be on the 25th of February. This would give the country time to consider these Bills and it would also not deprive members of their time before the 26th. The point raised by the hon. member for Illovo (Mr. Marwick) would also be met in that way because the date of his motion would remain unappropriated.

I am sorry that I cannot accede to the request. The leader of the Opposition can well understand that the Government has carefully considered when a beginning should be made with this special business if we want to get through the necessary work in this session. If all goes well, we shall finish the work in the time intended in this motion. If we began a week later it would not be possible, and we should perhaps have to postpone matters which concern, inter alia, the election. I should very much like to accommodate hon. members, but in this case it is impossible. With regard to the objections of the hon. member for Cape Town (Hanover Street) (Mr. Alexander) I am very sorry, but hon. members must know, just as well as I, that not just recently, but already for eighteen months, this session has been specially intended for the native Bills. The session is going to be short, and soon afterwards, after the election, I think in July, Parliament will assemble again, and I think that the private mattery are not of such grave importance that they cannot wait a month or two. The hon. member for Illovo (Mr. Marwick) also cannot get the required assurance from me. I shall not go into what he has thus far put before the House, but shall only say that I cannot give the assurance.

Motion put and the House divided:

Ayes—61.

Barlow, A. G.

Basson, P. N.

Boshoff, L. J.

Boydell, T.

Brown, G.

Cilliers, A. A.

Conradie, D. G.

Conradie, J. H.

Conroy, E. A.

Creswell, F. H. P.

De Villiers. W. B.

De Waal, J. H. H.

De Wet, S. D.

Du Toit, F. J.

Fick, M. L.

Fordham, A. C.

Grobler, P. G. W.

Hattingh, B. R.

Havenga, N. C.

Hay, G. A.

Hertzog, J. B: M.

Kemp, J. C. G.

Kentridge, M.

Le Roux, S. P.

Madeley, W. B.

Malan, C. W

Malan, D. F.

Malan, M. L.

McMenamin, J. J.

Moll, H. H.

Mostert, J. P.

Mullineux, J.

Munnik, J. H.

Naudé, A. S.

Naudé, J. F. T.

Oost, H.

Pienaar, J. J.

Raubenheimer, I. van W.

Reitz, H.

Reyburn, G.

Rood, W. H.

Roux, J. W. J. W.

Sampson, H. W.

Snow, W. J.

Stals, A. J.

Steytler, L. J.

Strachan, T. G.

Terreblanche, P. J.

Te Water, C. T

Van der Merwe, N. J

Van Heerden, I. P.

Van Hees, A. S.

Van Niekerk, P. W. le R.

Van Rensburg, J. J.

Van Zyl, J. J. M.

Visser, T. C.

Vosloo, L. J.

Waterston, R. B.

Wessels, J. B.

Tellers: Hugo, D.; Vermooten, O. S.

Noes—49.

Alexander, M.

Anderson, H. E. K.

Ballantine, R.

Bates, F. T.

Blackwell, L.

Byron, J. J.

Chaplin, F. D. P.

Close, R. W.

Coulter, C. W. A.

Duncan, P.

Geldenhuys, L.

Gibaud, F.

Gilson, L. D.

Giovanetti, C. W.

Grobler, H. S.

Harris, D.

Heatlie, C. B.

Henderson, J.

Jagger, J. W.

Krige, C. J.

Lennox, F. J.

Louw, G. A.

Louw, J. P.

Macintosh, W.

Marwick, J. S.

Miller, A. M.

Moffat, L.

Nathan, E.

Nel, O. R.

Nicholls, G. H.

Nieuwenhuize, J.

O’Brien, W. J.

Oppenheimer, E.

Payn, A. O. B.

Pretorius, N. J.

Reitz, D.

Richards, G. R.

Rider, W. W.

Robinson, C. P.

Rockey, W.

Sephton, C. A. A.

Smuts, J. C.

Struben, R. H.

Stuttaford, R.

Van Heerden. G. C.

Van Zyl, G. B.

Watt, T.

Tellers: Collins, W. R.; de Jager, A. L.

Motion accordingly agreed to.

I move—

Is the Prime Minister going to move his notice of motion in regard to select committees?

I was going to do so, but not knowing what objection might be taken to it, I did not do so.

Does the Prime Minister withdraw his motion for the adjournment?

Yes, I withdraw it.

I move—

seconded.