THE WORK OF PARLIAMENT 15!

this step is no more than an indication to the House when the
main discussion will be held. Second Reading. This is a set
debate on the general principles of the Bill. Thus, in the Second
Reading Debate on the London Passenger Transport Bill,
Members discussed the general desirability of bringing London
Transport under the control of a single Board. The way in which
the Board was to be appointed, the compensation of private
transport companies, and all details were left for later consider-
ation. The Second Reading Debate may last for two or' three
days, and at the end the motion "That the Bill be read a second
time'* is put. The Opposition may move as an amendment
"That this House declines to give a Second Reading to a Bill
which fails . . ." and so on, describing the Bill's shortcomings:
or, "That the Bill be read a second time this day six months"—
when the House will not be sitting; this is only a complicated
way of opposing the motion. The Second Reading is dearly an
essential stage; until there is agreement that a given Bill is wanted,
there is no purpose in discussing details. Financial Resolutions.
When the Bill is not a pure Money Bill but involves expenditure,
as a large proportion of Government Bills do, "the next step is
for the House to "go into Committee*'. The Speaker leaves the
chair; the Mace is put under the table; the Chairman of
Committees presides and the discussion becomes comparatively
informal. This "Committee of the Whole House" then considers
a financial resolution authorising the spending of the necessary
money. Later, when the House is sitting in its usual manner,
the Committee report their decision. As the Committee of the
Whole House, and the House, are the same people, this means
that the point is examined all over again. These stages are a
historical survival; in time past money was the chief source of
disagreement between Kings and Parliaments and the latter
felt they could discuss financial matters more freely when the
Speaker was absent. To-day, the process might well be abandoned;
it allows more speeches to be made without anything of substance
being said that has not been said already in the Second Reading