THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5087, 13 July 1877, Page 3

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

(Written for the New Zealand TimesJ

Amongst the representatives of the people the House of Lords, when party spirit has been running high, has often stepped in and done good service to the State ; but it has come to be now a well-understood principle that it has no power to appropriate the funds which are contributed by the people to make provision for the good government of the country, and to secure the defence of the Empire against - any attempt to invade' her rights. It acts as a revising body, but it cannot make or unmake .Cabinets. This principle has been recognised for some years. . The rise or fall of the Premier of the day, and consequently of ■ the Government, of which' he is the acknowledged chief, rests on the will and pleasure of the majority of the representatives of the people, of England, declared by •their action in the Commons House of Parliament. So much is this the case that it has happened that when a direct vote of want of confidence in the Government of the day. has been carried in the House of Lords, Mr. Roebuck, one of the members of the' House of Commons who has always prided himself on sitting on the cross benches, and not being a party man, moved and carried a resolution in the House of Commons affirming that the people of. England had perfect confidence in her Majesty’s Responsible Advisers. . This was rather a snub to their Lordships, as it entirely annulled the resolution which they had previously passed; Ministers retained their seats on the Treasury.benches, and the House of Commons established a precedent by which it virtually asserted its right to be considered the supreme power in the country, and to guide at its will the destinies of the great .English nation. But for "some years past the two branches of the Legislature have learned to work more cordially together in their deliberations for the public welfare. The feeling of the people of England has, for the last few years, been becoming more Conservative, and less inclined to radical 1 changes than it was disposed to favor after the passing of the Reform Bill of 1882, and the fever for legislative interference in many social questions which reached its height during the reign of Mr. Gladstone and Mr. John Bright. ; And it is curious to be able to note that, while the tone and feeling and temperament of the popular branch of the Legislature has been growing more Conservative, the temperament of the “ other place,” as it is called, has been becoming .more Liberal. “A little leaven• leaveneth the. whole lump.” And lit must be remembered that during his long tenure of office, Mr. Gladstone made a very large use of his patronage by the creation of Peers, and infused a large quantity of new blood into the hereditary branch of the Legislature. In the construction .of his Government, too, he availed himself very largely of the services of. members of the Peerage, and that no doubt when coming from a Liberal statesman holding such advanced views, acted as we may say in a conciliatory way, and tended very much to allay any lurking feeling of .irritation which had previously existed between the two Houses, in consequence of the recollection of previous differences. And here we may incidentally refer to a telegram recently received from England, which, we think, will pretty well bear us out in the view we have proposed to our readers on thissubject. The House of Lords wesay is yearly coming more into accord with therepresentatives of the people, and is bidding adieu to the old Teiy traditions to which it so long clung, and which so fettered it as to destroy for a long time its power of usefulness to the State. But “the old. order has given place to the new, and God fulfils Himself in many ways, lest one good custom should corrupt the world.” We are quoting from memory only ; but we think they are the words of the present poet laureate of England—a man who, without the. fire and frenzy of Byron, has placed his stamp on British literature, raised its tone, and written nothing of which any man might be ashamed: a man indeed without guile. The news received by telegraph with regard to the action taken by the House of Peers on the Burials Bill shows how materially the general feeling of the House has altered of late. We are told in the telegram “ The House of Lords has voted an amendment to the Burials Bill en-

titling Dissenters to choose the form of service which shall be used over the grave of the deceased.” Now this is one of tlwso oracular telegrams which remind us of the oracular answers given by the seers in ancient times. They were always ambiguous, always given in such a way that they would bear two interpretations, so that if the prophecy did not turn out correct, the oracle could wriggle out of it by saying that the language was misunderstood. The first instance we will give is that of the celebrated Lydian monarch Croesus (who ruled, by tbe by, in Asia Minor,' which is the scene of one-half of the present terrible struggle between Turkey and Russia.) Ho was anxious to attack Persia. Ho was looked upon as being tbe richest monarch in the world, and he was ambitious of conquest. He therefore sent messengers to the Delphic oracle in Greece, to ask if, in the event of his attacking the Persians, he would be successful. The answer he received from the inspired oracle was “ Orcesus Halim penetrans magnarn pervertet opum vim which being interpreted is, “ Croesus if he crosses the river, Halis will overthrow a large empire.” Well, ho crossed the Halis, was defeated, and taken prisoner by the Persians, and was burned to death on a funeral pyre. Of course the oracle was right, but it was on the wrong side for his satisfaction. Another instance is that of King Pyrrhus, when ho asked if he should start on an expedition against a neighboring State. The answer was—“lbis ridibis nunquam in hello peribia.” Reading this without stops it boars two different interpretations. It may bo either, “You shall go, you shall return, you shall perish in war,” or it may be read,

“ Yon shall go, you shall never return, you shall perish iu war.” He tried it on, and found the latter interpretation the more correct one, when it was too late. Now, the telegram to which we have referred, reminds us very much of one of these oracular responses. We are quite in the dark as to whether the amendment means to allow the Dissenters the liberty of choice referred to, or whether it is against this liberty but from what has happened of late years, we are inclined to think that the wishes of the people have been complied with. This, if our view is correct, must be looked upon as a very favorable state of affairs for the people of England. It is quite right, quite in accordance with the proper Government: of the country, and the freedom exercised under constitutional government, that the chosen representatives of the people should have the chief power ; but it is also necessary that a certain check should be held by other powers; by the power of the Crown itself, by the traditions of former centuries, by the hereditary chamber, and by the influence of public opinion, as expressed and sifted by the public Press. We think we have written enough to show, our readers how, while the House of Lords is looked upon as being a most useful part of the Legislature which controls the destinies of the great Anglo-Saxon race, the House of Commons really guides its policy, and is in very truth the helmsman who holds the wheel and steers the ship of the State. We may therefore now give a sketch of its interior economy. In the House of Commons all questions of order which from time to time arise are decided by “ Mr. Speaker.” In the event of any unparliamentary language being indulged in by one member to another ; or, in the event of a personal altercation arising during the heat of debate, the aggrieved member throws himself under the protection of Mr. Speaker. It is not often that this occurs. The members of the House of Commons are too highly educated, have too high a sense of the courtesy mutually due between gentlemen, and are actuated by motives too much higher than personal ones, to induce them to make personal attacks as a rule. Of course these personal “recontres” will happen at times ; but the good sense of the House, governed as it is by the authority of “Mr. Speaker,” generally quells any disturbance... almost as soon as it arises. The authority of the mace, the meretricious bauble which Cromwell so contemptuously ordered to be removed from the table as useless, is still recognised as emblematical of the authority which it is admitted by all moderate men (and they compose the large majority of the House of Commons) should be. allowed to the Speaker who controls their deliberations, and the respect for whose guiding influence tends so much to good order and good government. In a popular Assembly, liable to be agitated by high flights of oratory and to be influenced by those who are enabled to catch the ear of the great body of their listeners, it is always well that the forms which to a certain extent do awe men’s minds should be observed, and that the business should be conducted with decency and decorum. The manner of carrying on business iu the House of Commons is only to be described as of a very pliable character. Although the-House has dts code of lex seripta in the shape of standing orders, : still very large latitude is granted to the Speaker in the interpretation of this written code ; and his decisions are , quite as often founded upon practice and precedent cited from what we may call the “Common Law,” of Parliament as upon the written law which dies at his elbow in the shape of the standing order book. And although considerable strictness is observed in the House with respect to personal invectives and improper expressions used on the floor of the House by one member against another, the number of members is so large that there is nothing so easy as to extinguish a “ bore.” The; present House of Commons consists of 653 member. The chamber in which our elected legislators assemble is comparatively small. In front of the seats there are no tables or convieniencea for writing. It is, in fact, the model used for the construction of the elective chamber which has been erected in the great city of Melbourne, the “London" of Australia, and which no doubt many of our readers have seen. Members have to carry their Parlia-. mentary papers in their bauds. When an obnoxious member gets up to bore the House by talking twaddle-by the hour on some particular hobby of his own, he can either be “ scraped down” by the large number of members in the House (for from the very force of numbers the Speaker is unable to detect :the delinquents and to keep order), or else, on the other, hand, he may find himself addressingonellnder Secretary bn the bench behind the Treasury bench,' and three or four and twenty members fast asleep in (he body, of the House. This is an ordeal which very few members care to go through. Nothing is so difficult for a man to withstand as ridicule, or silent contempt. , The hardest punishment for a school-boy is to be sent to “Coventry” by his schoolfellows, and the source of feeling is the same in both instances. The leader of the House in fact has, from long and careful study, to understand the temper of the House at' the precise time at which any difficulty arises, and almost, we may say, by intuition to hit it off. A striking instance of this jwas shown when the celebrated Dr. Keneally was returned to Parliament after his conduct of the Tichborne trial. He entered the House to take the necessary oath, but; he could not get two members to go through the usual; ceremony of introducing him to, Mr. Speaker. He is, however, a gentleman,little wanting in assurance.' ' He advanced to the table ■; the House was pretty, full, and ..was of course getting itself ready for a scene. : -The Speaker,’Mr. Brandt, than, whom no. finer English gentlemen ever occupied the Speaker’s chair, as the first commoner of England, pointed out to him that although the. writ had been returned in compliance with the law, certifying to his election, as a member of the Commons'.House of Parliament ; yet it had been the invariable practice of the House that no new member elected to a vacancy which might ocourafter’a general election should take his seat unless introduced to the Speaker by two sitting members. “That .’’said Mr. Speaker, “had! been the invariable practice of the' House from time immemorial.” He further went An to observe that he conceived, the reasoii to be that the House had always felt it necessary to uphold most carefully its own dignity and the privileges of its constituents, and therefore had been accustomed to require that in the case of new members they should be identified by members . who were wellknown. He observed, however, that he supposed the individual who presented himself to take his seat was the person who had been' duly returned I o Parliament, and he placed the matter in the hands of the House itself. Now, this is a proof of how clastic the rules of the House of Commons are. There stood Dr, Kenealy, there sat Mr. Speaker, after giving his ruling, and there sat the House. What was to be done? All eyes of course turned upon the leader of the House, Mr. Disraeli, the Prime Minister. Eising from his seat , with his solemn manner, his ponderous tones, and his unmoved countenance, ho said that he entirely concurred with the opinion given by the Speaker. Many years of Parliamentary experience had enabled him to do so ; and no doubt the practice laid down as the rule of their proceedings by Mr. Speaker , was the correct .view to take. But the House often relaxed its rules, and modified its views to meet sudden emergencies. No doubt, he said, it was the custom for a new member to be introduced as Mr. Speaker had stated, in order that he might be identified as the duly elected member ; but he must remind the House that in this instance they might safely dispense with the rule, as there could exist no doubt in the mind of any living man of the identity of the individual who was present at the table prepared to take the , oath. Of course the House wont into a shout of laughter, Dr. Keneally took the oath and his seat, and this little incident being over the business proceeded as usual. Such are the scenes which occur at times in the representative chamber of our Imperial Legislature. It requires a man of peculiar tact to hit oil the temper of the House, which changes day by day. The exertion, the long hours, the anxiety for success, and the dread of failure, all these exercise a very considerable effect upon the constitutions of our statesmen ; still of late years they have not succumbed to them. Many of them have lived to good old ago,

have served their country well, and have’been' hearty up to the finish. Upon the whole we think we may say that they have done their duty to their country right well. Statesmen and pholosophers have in all ages suggested all kinds of theoretical forms of government, but we are unable to see that any better one has been proposed than that limited monarchy under which bur Empire has so long flourished, which has its executive power in the Crown, its balancing power in the hereditary branch of the Legislature, and its forcing power in the representatives of the people of England, “ The Commons House of Parliament.”