Anti-Confederation Petition
from Nova Scotia

House of Lords, London, England

18 June 1868

“Postpone the Motion”

(305 words)

Anti-Confederation Petition
from Nova Scotia

House of Lords, London, England
Hansard, 18 June 1868, v192 page 1749

          LORD CAMPBELL, who had given Notice – "To present a Petition from Nova Scotia alleging the Existence of much Discontent in the Province in regard to an Act passed last Session under the Title of The British North America Act: and to move that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying Her Majesty to appoint a Commission to proceed to Nova Scotia for the Purpose of examining the Causes of the alleged Dissatisfaction with a View to their Removal." said he rose to postpone his Motion.  His reason for doing so was chiefly on account of the lateness of the hour, and the existence of certain rules or understandings with respect to the conduct of Public Business on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  A good many Members had left the House on the understanding that the subject would not come on after six.

          THE EARL OF CARNARVON  said, that this Motion had been twice on the Paper and had been twice postponed.  He protested against the continual postponement of important Notices – a course which was highly inconvenient to noble Lords who felt interested in the discussions which were likely to arise, and one which was also highly detrimental to the public interests.  It was now only half-past six o'clock, and he could not see why the Motion should not be proceeded with.

          LORD LYVEDEN  remarked that the inconvenience arising from the course adopted by the noble Lord (Lord Campbell) was felt not only by many Members of their Lordships' House, but also by the Delegates from Nova Scotia, who were naturally anxious to be present at the discussion.  He trusted that the noble Lord would place his Notice on the Paper for a day when it could have precedence, and that the date would be sufficiently early to admit of the Delegates from Nova Scotia being present at the discussion before leaving this country.




Related Hansard Items

1865 March 23
Pre-Confederation Defence of Canada
House of Commons, London   (36,699 words)

1867 February 19
British North America Bill, Lords 2nd Reading
House of Lords, London   (12,425 words)

1867 February 26
British North America Bill, Lords 3rd Reading
House of Lords, London   (3,926 words)

1867 February 28
British North America Bill, Commons 2nd Reading
House of Commons, London   (13,324 words)

1868 June 16
Anti-Confederation Petition from Nova Scotia
House of Commons, London   (16,637 words)

1868 July 06
Anti-Confederation Petition from Nova Scotia
House of Lords, London   (12,882 words)


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“Dividing the House”

In parliamentary procedure, there is a lot of significance in a member asking the House "to divide".

In parliamentary procedure, the usual way for a decision to be made by a group of dozens or hundreds of people – for a vote to be taken – is by a simple voice vote, a voting method used by deliberative assemblies (such as parliaments or legislatures) in which a vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding verbally (orally).  Typically the speaker or chair or presiding officer of the assembly will put the question to the assembly, making it clear that the members understand the effect of an "aye" vote and a "no" vote, and will then ask first for all those in favor of the motion to indicate so verbally, and then ask second all those opposed to the motion to indicate so verbally.  A similar procedure is to indicate agreement or disagreement by a show of raised hands; this works well in smaller assemblies such as town councils or school boards, but in larger assemblies such as the House of Commons a show of hands is used rarely or never.

A voice vote can be taken quickly (often it is completed in less than half a minute) compared to the much longer time required for a division – in the House of Commons half an hour for a single division vote is not unusual, and there are historical examples that extended to six hours or more.  Because they can be completed quickly, voice votes are preferred as a way to keep the business of the House moving, but they leave no record of who voted for what.  When a vote is about to be taken, any member who wants a record to be made of the vote numbers on both sides can request that the House be divided, and thus an accurate count can be obtained.

Political strategy can be involved in the method of voting chosen, with unrecorded voice votes preferred when the matter in question is either uncontroversial – or paradoxically when the matter at hand is quite controversial and participants prefer that there be no clear record of who voted which way.

When a vote is taken by division, the numbers of votes for and against are carefully counted and then are entered in the permanent record (Hansard) of the proceedings.  While the numbers for and against are always recorded for division votes, the names of the individual members who voted each way may or may not be recorded.  (In the Hansard record above, no vote was taken.)

Reference:— Division vote by Wikipedia

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