The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-03-01 00:00:00

Cur onbn Corrtspoithent,

tWe deem it right to state that we do not at all times
Identify out sclvts with our Correspondent's opinions.]

The election of a Speaker of the House of
Commons is an event which does net often occur, and
when it takes place it is surrounded with every
element of interest. A Speaker generally fills the
chair many years, so that such an event as the choice
of a new one is of comparatively rare occurrence.
Mr. Manners Sutton and Mr. Shaw Lefevre each pre-
sided over the deliberations of the House eighteen
years, Mr. Denison fifteen, and Sir H. Brand twelve.
The shortest Speakership in modern experience was
that of Mr. Abercromby, created on his retirement
Baron Dunfermline, and he held the chair only
from 1835 to 1839. He was, however, a man
of mature years when elected, and the labours
of the chair are, as Sir Henry Brand de-
scribed them in his retiring speech, severe.
They were not so exacting half a century ago as they
are now; but at any time they were certain to tell
upon a man of advanced age. The post is one of
great historical importance and of high and dignified
responsibility, and it is not held under the Crown.
The gentleman appointed to it does not seek re-election
at the hands of his constituents. The House of
Commons provides for its presiding officer a sumptuous
residence within the Palace of Westminster, a salary
of £5OOO a year, and a pension of £4OOO per annum
on his retirement. It elects him to preserve order
and decorum in its ranks, and no matter what the
calibre of the member may be, from the Prime
Minister to the repre=entative of the obscurest
borough, he must bow to the ruling of the Speaker.
The Speaker is generally selected from the party in
power, but when once in the chair he is expected to
show the strictest impartiality. He is not dispossessed
of his office unless under very strong reasons. A
remarkable illustration of this occurred in the case of
Mr. Manners-Sutton. He was elected in 1817, when
or the rw., „bra., Lad then lasted
half a century, seemed likely enough to continue. In
1830 came the French Revolution, followed by the
Reform agitation in this country, which led to the
passing of the Act of 1832, and the election of a
Parliament in which the Tories of that day were
in a hopeless minority. The Radicals wished to
have a Speaker in accord with the dominant
spirit of the new House of Commons, but the Whigs
decided to re-elect Mr. Manners-Sutton, because
although a Tory, it was held to be advisable that a
man of experience should be in the chair in a Parlia-
ment composed of such heterogeneous and turbulent
elements. But in the course of that Parliament the
Whig Ministers fancied they detected partiality in the
conduct of Mr. Manners-Sutton, and at the beginning
of the next they elected Mr. Abercromby in his stead.
The truth is that a Speaker of the House of Com-
mons, if he wishes to maintain his position, cannot
afford to have the slightest suspicion of par-
tiality associated with the discharge of his duties.

The short speech delivered by the Prince of Wales in
the House of Lords on the dwellings of the poor has
created a very good impression. The fact that the
Heir-Apparent is to be a member of the Royal Com-
mission to inquire into this subject shows the hold
which it has obtained upon the attention of all classes.
As Mr. Bright said of the visits of the Angel of Death
during the Crimean War, this question has attracted
notice not only in the cottage of the humble, but in
the castle of the noble and the mansion of the
wealthy. The Heir-Apparent has lately, in order to
satisfy himself by personal inspection, gone into some
of the worst dens of St. Pancras and Holborn. He
has made himself acquainted with phases of life
strongly contrasting with those to which he has been
accustomed for more than forty years, and which
suggest very different pictures from those to be wit-
nessed in the immediate neighbourhood of the palaces
of Buckingham and St. James's.