18. To ask the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to the arrest by the military at Ballybofey, County Donegal, on the night of 27th-28th April of the following men: Joseph Bell, Patrick Conway, Charles Doherty, Francis Kelly, Hugh M'Lean, James M'Gowan, and Mick Magee, and to the fact that no charge was made against them; whether his attention has been called to the events which took place on the night of 25th December, 1920, when the military broke all the windows of the Catholic residents in the towns of Drumboe and Ballybofey; and will he explain why motor-car permits are not granted to Catholics by the authorities, though the prevailing political belief of these people is constitutional nationalism?

On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker, may I ask Question 18?

I will take this opportunity of replying to the statement of the hon. and gallant Member a few days ago, with respect to the question of exceeding his "ration." I have looked upon the records, and I find that Mr. Speaker Lowther is not recorded ever to have said that in the second round the ration can be exceeded. On the other hand, he said that a question on the Paper beyond the number allowed should be treated as an unstarred question. A Member is not allowed to change a question from unstarred to starred on a particular day. Therefore it follows logically that I ought not to call the question to which the hon. and gallant Member refers.

I daresay the words I mentioned were not actually uttered by Mr. Speaker Lowther: but are you aware that Mr. Speaker Lowther did on more than one occasion actually call the fourth question on the second time round?

In addition to searching the records with the result which I have just indicated, I also made inquiries from those whose business it was to be present during the whole of question time, and they tell me that there has been no such practice. I, therefore, feel bound to follow the rule which has been laid down.

Is not this practice not a rule but a change which was made by Mr. Speaker Lowther himself, and therefore is it not within your power to change that practice in accordance with your discretion? When the questions do not take up the full hour, would it not be to the advantage of the House and the country to have these questions called on the second round? [HON. MEMBERS: "NO!"] I know that some hon. Members do not like questions, but it is not the tradition of this House that criticism of Ministers at question time is one of our primary functions, and ought we not be allowed to have the full hour? We have always had it up to now, and if the number of questions is cut down, at least give us the opportunity of having an extra one if time allows.

If any representations be made to me later on as to a change in the practice, I will consider them, but for the present I shall not depart from it.

Is it not the case, apart altogether from any questions on the Paper, that if a Member wishes to ask a question of any Minister up to a quarter to four, he is perfectly in order in doing so?

That is true, with this exception, that a question which has been put down as an unstarred question cannot be changed into an oral question.

Is it not a fact that the Standing Order says that questions may be asked until a quarter to four, and that the limitation to three in a case like that which is now before us would have the effect of curtailing the Standing Order, in deference to what is a quite recent practice?

I do not think so. The present practice was adopted in order to give an increased amount of fairness to Members of the House, so that Members who put down a large number of questions might not be allowed to monopolise the time of the House. The fact that one or two days after the Recess we are able to save a little time is not enough, in my mind, to disturb the regulation.

Are we to understand that this regulation will in practice operate to curtail the time given under Standing Orders for the purpose of questioning Ministers?

Questions of which notice has been properly given within the arrangement confirmed by the House will, of course, be taken.