The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-09-17 00:00:00

,Stourbribge Obelter

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1837.

THE END OF THE PARLIAMEN.

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I

TARY SESSION.

THE protracted Session of Parliament was
not permitted to come to a close without one
more "scene "in the House of Commons of
an unsavoury sort, in the course of which
Mr. Speaker had to " name " two members,
and the First Lord of the Treasury found it
his duty to move their suspension accordingly.
Mr. Cnnninghame Graham and Mr. E. Har-
rington, one representing a Scotch and the
other an Irish constituency, were the delin-
quents. Their offence did not arise out of
the discussion of purely Irish affairs—that
potent subject of heated argument, but in
each case the member had waxed wrote and
proceeded to use unjustifiablelan,,omage anent
the Lards. arr. Graham resented the Peers'
amendments to the Coal Mines Regulation
Bill ;and Mr. Harrington was angry because
the Truck Act had received what be con—
sidered unwarrantable mutilation in "another
p' c&." Mr: Graham was incensed beyond
u 'u a at the action of the mern—
ui' 0.1 the Upper House, "men not
}4{,H..e1l by popular vote," who had "dared
to diets e" to the chosen of the people; but
he was particularly careful to make it plain
that he desired to offer Lo affront to Mr.
Speaker or the House of Commons. On the
other hand, Mr. Harrington's wrath made
him positively rude to the speaker, and
entirely regardless of the decencies of debate.
The passionate violence of the member for
West Kerry met with the stern rebuke of
the House. All this was in the early morn-
lag & Tuesday, duringtbe course of a sitting
which occupied over thirteen hours, and at
•-es :clock the same afternoon the Speaker
si.sain wok the chair. There was the usual
--or, perhaps, rather more than usual—
questioning of Ministers concerning all
manner of trivialities, and then honourable
members proceeded to the discussion on the
third reading of the Appropriation Bill.
Advantage was taken of the opportunity
affotded by the debate to raise the question
of the Irish policy and administration of the
Government. Mr. John Dillon, in angry
tones, criticised and denounced the doings of
those in authority in Ireland; Mr. Parnell
was severe in his comments on the arrest of
Mr. O'Brien; and Mr. John Morley and Mr.
Labouchere both, in dissenting from the
plans and acts of Ministers, strongly main-
tained that the policy of Dublin Castle was
calculated to provoke the people of
Ireland into measures ot violencs and the
" wild justice of revenge." Mr. Balfour, the
Irish Secretaay, stoutly defended the Execa-
tie° in hs astitude towards political prisoners
under the Crimes Act, and held that the
ttehelstown affray reflected no (Vscredit on
lothorities. The point was thrashed oat
withirmu, though in the end Hinisterial-
ists Oppesition were as far as ever from
assresm :n?.. Then the Appropriation Bill
.vas p ,-it tid to pass the Commons, and
nalnediately went up to the ouse of Lords
for fi::st reading. So, virtually, ended the
Parliamentary session; for both Houses
shortly afterwards adjourned for the proro-
vatian on Friday, excepting that the Lords
had to sit formally in the interval on the
conclading stages of one or two bills. With
the reading of the Queen's Speech closes One
of the most wearisome of Parliamentary
sessions, one in which there has indeed been
"mach cry for little wool." A compara-
tively small amount of legislatory work his
been accomplished; but we have had
an everroVing flood of talk. No less than
four hundred and eighty-five times since the
session began has the House been cleared for
a division a wasting of . precious time
altogether unpardonable when one considers
how often the issue was insignificant in the
extreme, and how often the marshalling into
the lobbies arose from purely party antagon-
ism. These rapidly-recurring divisions are
bat, in many cases, the fighting over again
of decided battles, and besides giving rise to
endless inconsequential talk, stand, in a way
that is fast becoming intolerable, in the track
of seriorts Parliameritary work. Many urgent
English, Scotch, and Welsh matters, con-
cerning which leg slation is badly nesded,
have had to go altogether unattended at St.
Stephen's, in order that Irish affairs might
have the monopAy of discussion. This is
as unfair as it j distasteful to three of the
four kingdom; in whose interests the House
of Cens noes is ealed together. Unless
Ireland sho: tly cases to Hock the legislative
way, the whole question of procedure in
Parliament will have to be looked into in a
new way. Standing as we do at the close of
a Parliamentary AL:3 iioa of abnormal length,
in which there na.v.t heen a great number of
protracted sittinsse we still heat- nothino•but
complaint about arra us of legislation.
Nnini)ers of: (1 u.mt pledges as to the
promotion of biils eio7r3rning most vital
ttlijeets hav c rforuo re.nained unredeemed;
fie n
many questions crying alenc: for Parliamen•
tars aeiswer can ohstie n ) hearing. Not
that oar represent ttives at Westminster are
neglectful of their duties, so far as attend-
ance at the House goes. Twenty-five times
since the first of last month her Majesty's
faithful Commons have remained sitting long
after the "wee isms.' hour ayont the twal '
has sounded from "Big Ben." Supposing
that their working day should be considered
done at midnight—late enough for legisla-
tion in all conscience the chosen of the
people would still be able to point to having
pnt in eighty hour;' overtime since August
begat,. Bar, nearly the whole of these long
sittings have been exhansted over the desul-
tory discussion of Irish grievances, and
altogether impractical wrangling in Sapply,
it new become customary to raise all
questions on the kstimates.
at' lag
oag of small
4.310.-neshiao. will have to be done, nut only to
liptstwu of ntenaborg on any gi

veal

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