"BULLS" IN PARLIAMENT.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 47, 18 June 1915, Page 5

"BULLS" IN PARLIAMENT.

MR. JOHN BURNS'S GREAT EFFORT. There is nothing, perhaps, which members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons enjoy so much as a "bull," one of those quaint inconsistencies of speech involving a contradiction In terms, which is all the more ludicrous because it is uttered quite unconsciously. Not long ago Mr. Bonar Law brought under the notice of the Lower House a "bull" of more than ordinary proportions when he spoke of " the habit of tlie Government in letting things drift until they run against some precipice which brings them to a standstill. Sir Edward Carson, when making an attack on the Government some tim.; ago, remarked that "Mr. Asquith was liko a drunken man walking along a straight line—the farther he went the sooner he fell," while it was also Sir r dward who referred in cordial tones to "the gentleman I 6ee behind me.' Mr. F. E. Smith, on one occasion, in discussing the Parliaments Act with rs famous preamble, referred to them as "twin Bills, the younger of which has not yet been born," an Ulster member being equally humorous when he said, "We have to go back centuries for a parallel to such treatment, and ovjn then we don't find it." Mention of Ulster reminds Mr. .T. C. Percy, to whose book, "Bulls and Blunders," we are indebted for those amusing examples of Parliamentary metaphors, that a Northern politician is responsible tor saying that "with one voice Ulster would lift up her head and stamp out the outRamsay Macdonald once referred in the.House of Commons to the "empty grave where all our ruined industries lie," and it was another Irish member who, speaking of a question about which there had been much discussion extending over a long period of time, remarked, "If you leave this question to us for three years, we will settle it to-morrow morning." . . Probably the champion mixed metaphor on record is that attributed to an Irish member, who is said to have accused the Government of killing the fatted calf which lays the golden eggs, ' while the House rocked with laughter when a member, dcnoucmg a Bill lie did not like, said. "Sir I .ntend to drive the last nail into the eoftin ot thw unborn babe." Mr. Master man, M.P., when Financial Secretarv, informed Mr. tells that the rotation book which some employers were invited to obtain was to be used by those who arere "regularly casually employed " Mr. Mr. John Burns has made a notable addition to our already rich store of mixed metaphors. Speaking some timo ago on the Insurance Act, lie referred to one of the Unionist members, Mr. Jardine, as "a brand from the burning," and expressed his wiLlmgness to "throw out a life-line ana draw the honourable member ashore. According to the Press report, the House was convulsed with laughter, and took several minutes to recover its equanimity, whiist the President of the Board of Trade, on discovering his slip, surveyed the boisterous scene with a look of amused serenity.