The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-07-17 00:00:00

thing—more than the guarantee of a youthful
even with his hand on his heart, that it would lose all
force in the cold, calm atmosphere of the House of
Commons ; and the House is of all possible places
perhaps the least suited for its exercise or Lkely to
benefit from it.
It is not necessary, however, to state the case in
favour of the grating as if its removal concerned the
comfort of the members or the interests of pu the busi-
ness. The only conceivable reason for removing it is
that the ladies object to it, and the la Me, so far as
we can judge on a point of this kind, do not object to
it. On the contrary, they would be sorry to see it
removed. The First Commissioner of Works took the
trouble to poll no less than "twolundred ladies," and
of these only two pronounced against the grating.
We are, unfortunately, not told upon what their
condemnation of it was based, but it is not perhaps a
very rash conjecture that they argued much as their
champions in the House argued—who seemed, indeed,
to have gone for their inspiration to the fountain
head of what is known as "ladies' logic"—to the
general effect that the presence of ladies in the House
would make no difference whatever, and that all the
difference it did make would be unmixedly for good.
Without, however, asking them to give any reasons
for their dislike, we should be quite content with the
mere fact that ladies did dislike the grating, and should,
of course, consider this a strong, if not a sufficient
reason for its removal •, but we have no faith in the
statement as regards the majority of ladies, or those,
at least, who on a question of this kind have the best
claim to represent them. That some—especially the
younger portion—would like, as Mr. Beresford Hope
said, to come down occasionally "in their best
"dresses" to a position from which the dresses
and the wearers should be generally visible,
and would, in fact, look upon the Parliamentary de-
bates as a pleasant addition to the present "number of
evening parties," we do not for a moment doubt. It
is natural enough that a certain number of ladies
should wish the grating removed; but although the
wish may be very harmless, we quite agree with Mr.
Beresford Hope that it is not these ladies who have
the beet right to be heard on a question of this kind,
even assuming—which, however, we are far from be-
lieving—that they are not in a small minority. The
ladies who go really for the sake of the debate itself
much prefer the grating, for the reasons so well put by
Mr. Layard's correspondent—they can listen far more
at their ease with it than without it, and can make
their escape unobserved when a bore is victimising the
House.
The grating, moreover, seems to us to furnish
exactly the compromise wanted between the hardship
of keeping ladies cut of the House of Commons alto-
gether and the objection that their presence there
is likely to interfere with public business. There
are a few men who do not hesitate to declare that
women have no right to be in such a place as the
House of Commons at all ; that they are far better at
home. attending to their own private domestic duties
or pleasures. A few, on the other hand, hold that
politics ought to form a special and important
part of woman's studies, and, looking forward to
the day on which she will be called on to take an
equal share with man in the labours and responsibili-
ties of Government, think that every facility should be
given her for qualifying herself for this task. But
between these extremes the great majority of men take
the practical view, that whether women ought or not
to concern themselves with politics, a certain number of
them, as a matter of fact, always will, and that it is
therefore just as well to give them a chance of
familiarising themselves with affairs of State in the
simplest way, and acquiring some personal, easily man-
ageable knowledge of what they like to talk about, pro-
vided this can be done without their interfering with the
real business-like work to be accomplished only by men.
The grating supplies precisely this solution, and we
trust therefore that Mr. Herbert and his friends, now
they have taken the opinion of a "Reformed House
of Commons " upon it, will be content to let it remain
quietly where it is, until a further extemion of the
franchise or enlargement of the constituencies warrants
the supposition that "the grate question " requires once
mere to be submitted to the matured consideration of
the country.

The following is the letter which Mr. Layard re-
ceived from a lady, and which he read during the
discussion on the subject of the Ladies' Gallery in the
House of Commons :
" My dear Mr. Layard,—l do hope you will exert the weight
of your official authority to preserve for us the protection of
the grating in front of our gallery, which some honourable
members, no doubt prompted by feelings 0 mistaken kind-
ness, are !ispoted to remove. I fallyalipreclatetlie chivalrous
real of Mr. Herbert, hut if yen have an opportunity I
hope you will tell him how many more eff,ctual ways
there are of defending our cause in Pmliameut, and earn-
ing our gratitude. Do not suppose that I mean to say
that the Ladies' Gallery could not he improved. The
occasional visits we receive from our friends in the House
of Commons are too short for them to be able to judge of our
sufferings up there, or of the quality of the air which you
provide for our lungs. But the removal of the grating would
he no remedy ; on the contrary, the protection we derive
from it enables us to sit as we like, to talk together, to hang
up our shawls and bonnets, and dress as we please. These
are many advantages, for you know we are compelled '
to sit quiet not to lose our places while bores are
addressing the House. You will not take it amiss, dear
Mr. Lapsed, if I lay that there are some bores in the House
of Commons. Toll cannot feel for us, because on these
occasions you can go and talk to your friends, and write
letters in the library. The grating also enables us to leave
the gallery in the middle of dull speeches, which we would
otherwise be compelled to sit out patiently, especially if the
orator was an acquaintance, and had obtained our seat for
as! And, then, the grating is of enormous advantage to
honourable members themselves, who could not come and
stretch, and sleep, and snore as they do immediately below
us in the galleries if they saw that we saw them. And
last, hut not least, do yen not think that a good many ill-
natured remarks and suppositions are made impossible by
the interposition of this objectionable writing? Who can
say now that Mr.-- said so and no because Lady was
in the gallery, or that Sir always stammers and breaks
dews when Mien— is piesent ?"