Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-04-24
IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

n
FeaIty.
A correspondent thus describes Z
night in the English house of com,
mons: " Until about seven there il
a tolerable attendance, when mem.
bers begin to drop off gradually one
by one, for the dinner hour is ap.
preaching, and honorable members
are feeling 'the sacred rage of hun.
GER If the question in debate is
not likely to last through the even.
ing, there will often be a desperate
effort made to force on division al
once. To this end a crowd will
gather below the bar-that is, lust
inside the door-and, when new
speaker gets up to continue the dis
cussion, will try to drown his voice
by cries divide or, as the word
sounds in the rapidity of utteranct
usual on such occasions, wide,
wide, wide first from one and
then from another, until at last il
rises into roar. If the orator is
pertinacious and determined to
proceed, or if considerable party
in the house shows a disposi.
ton to uphold him, which i;
done by roaring a counter CRY
of order order the con-
tlict sometimes grows fast and
furious, until the Interruptions, see
ing it is of no avail, and fain to
desist and depart. Then in the
lobby outside there is y curious
ceremony going on of which out
siders know little. A desk is placed
on the right hand of the passage
inside the outer entrance into the
house, on which there are pens, ink
and paper. Around this desk mem
bers from both sides of the house
congregate, and the question arises,
Who wants a pair?' the meaning Of
which is that two members-one
from the Ministerial and one from
the. Opposition ranks-agree that
they will be absent from the house
for a certain time, SO that, in case of
a division taking place in the inter
val, they neutralize each other. At
the top of the sheets of paper lying
on the desk are written the words
For and Against meaning for and
against the government. The two
who are about to play temporary
truants write their names. one
under for and the other under
against while down the center of
the sheet there runs a column for
time. One asks the other 'how
long?' The answer may be until
10, or 1890, or IL, or for the night,
and that is marked accordingly in
the central column, So they are
paired for the period agreed upon,
and may depart without running
the risk of inaietiug an injury upon
their party should q division arise
during their absence. Thus there
will be often forty or ffty pairs in
the course of an evening, Those
who have, in this manner, qqieted
their consciences, then start of to
dine at their houses, or at their
clubs, feeling themselves safe
while the compact lasts. But,
those who, from greater zeal in the
discharge of their duty, or from
special interest in the question in
debate. decline to avail themselves
of the pairing dodge, must dine in
the house. Sometimes the division
bell sounds just the TINS when forty
or fifty Of them are in the got Of
dining, and then there is a rush
and a scramble, some walking off
with their mouths half full, and
others Yiping their lips after a
draught, aud as a division takes
twenty minutes or half an hour,
the interruption is not pleasant
one to the hungry legislators. Du-
ring the dinner hour the house
often presents only a beggarly ac-
count of empty benches, and on
one occasion during the last parlia-
ment some members peeping ia
through the door saw the curious
spectacle of an honorable gentle
man standing up, absolutely alone,
and addressing the speaker, when
there were none but the two in the