[265:3] _Cf._ S.O. 55. [265:4] _Cf._ S.O. 56-57. [266:1] Standing Orders (relative to private business), 98. [266:2] "Seventy Years at Westminster," 267 _et seq._ [266:3] _Ibid._, 103-15. [266:4] S.O. 75. [266:5] S.O. 76-80. [267:1] "At the commencement of every session an order is made 'That a committee of privileges be appointed,' but no members have been nominated to it since 1847." "Manual of Procedure of the House of Commons," prepared in 1904 by Sir Courtenay Ilbert, Clerk of the House, § 110. There are also a couple of sessional committees whose work is wholly concerned with private bills and are described therewith. [267:2] The question often arises whether inquiry shall be conducted by a committee of the House, or by a commission appointed by the government. When the matter is distinctly political a committee of the House is the proper organ; but when the judgment of outside experts is needed the other alternative is obviously preferable, several members of Parliament being often included in such cases. Naturally enough, the ministry and the members chiefly interested in pushing an inquiry do not always agree about the matter. One instance of a dispute on this point has already been referred to--that in relation to the grievances of Post Office employees. Another famous example occurred upon the charges made by _The Times_ against Parnell in connection with the forged Pigott Letters. [267:3] May, 469-70. [267:4] The private bill committees to be described in a later chapter are select committees. [268:1] May, 383-89, 471. [268:2] S.O. 59-61, 63. [268:3] S.O. 61. [269:1] May, 398-99. [269:2] Redlich, 463. [269:3] S.O. 46-50; May, 371-77. [270:1] S.O. 49. [270:2] S.O. 47. [270:3] May, 374. [270:4] As in the House itself, the attendance during debate is sometimes small. Complaints are heard of this, and of the practice of fetching members in to take part in divisions. Hans. 4 Ser. XCII., 570. The divisions, by the way, are taken by roll-call. [270:5] Hans. 4 Ser. XCII., 562, 566. [271:1] S.O. 50. _Cf._ Hans. 4 Ser. XCII., 555-75. [271:2] See the remarks of Gladstone in proposing them in 1882, Hans. 3 Ser. CCLXXV., 145-46. [271:3] In the sixteen years from 1888 (when these committees were revived) through 1903, 1080 public bills were enacted, of which 109 passed through their hands. During the eight years from 1896 to 1903, this was true of 73 bills out of the 446 enacted. [271:4] From 1888 to 1903, 77 of the 83 government bills referred to a standing committee were enacted; from 1896 to 1906, 48 were so referred, and all but two of them were enacted. From 1888 to 1903, 32 out of 58 private members' bills so referred were enacted; and from 1896 to 1903, 27 out of 41. _Cf._ Return in Com. Papers, 1902, LXXXII., 229, and the Annual Returns for 1901-03. [272:1] _Cf._ Hans. 4 Ser. XCII., 563, 567.