A PAINFUL INCIDENT.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 8732, 5 February 1907, Page 1

A PAINFUL INCIDENT.

Mr H. W. Lucy writes in the Sydney Morning Herald: —In no other country than England would a little personal incident, happening amid the clash of the two Houses of Parliament, have been passed over with delicate reticence. At 1 a time when the Lords were posing as a heaven-designed, immaculate institution, in the highest interests of the nation resisting the rash proposals of an iniquitous House of Commons, two of thorn became hopelessly, what is worse, publicly, drunk. Ono had to be removed, with the assistance of two shocked attendants. The other was able to stagger about and offer inconveniently loud remarks with intonation reminiscent of Sir Charles Wyndham’s voice in a well-known scone in “ Garrick.” The business before the House was the Merchant Shipping Bill, a measure affecting the welfare of all who go down to the sea in ships. The President of the Board of Trade was watching the scene from the steps before the throne. Observing him, the inebriate lord still at large made a devious course behind the Woolsack to the gilt mil, upon which he heavily hung. Addressing the right lion, gentlenu n as “ Goorgo Lloyd,” he confidentially informed him that he Thought his Bill a very good ono, but be had an amendment that would greatly improve it. “ Only," he added querulously, “ they woan lemmo move it.” The names of those pillars of Church and State are, of course, well known. As far as 1 have observed, they have not been mentioned in any newspaper. A labour member in the uncompromising, direct fashion of his class, pat a question on the subject iu the House of Commons, and was dexterously fended off by C.B. Supposing, in analogous circumstances of extreme tension between the two Houses, such an incident had happened at Washington, not only would the whole story have been told with attractive headlines in all the papers, but there would have been more or less faithful portraits of the overcome Senators staggering around. This is certainly ono of the ( things the British Press manage better than is done abroad.”