Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-08-04
Parliament, from the Women's Grated
Dan
[Kate Field, in the Christian Union.l

GIL
[Kate Field, in the Christian Union.1
Through many windings, up innumer
able stairs, women attain the door lead
ing to their pen. On my last visit, one
hour before the house assembled, it was
locked, and dozen women stood before
it ready to make raid on the front seats.
At last, the imposing usher appeared, un-
locked the door, and the scramble began,
but we were stopped in our mad career by
the imperturbable person in black, who,
after com pairing our names with those on
his list, allowed US to proceed. BY firm
but not rictous display of muscle, I Sc
cured front seat. "Tnis is beautiful, is
it noti" said an elderly lady to her com
panion. "What have you brought with
your" "Sherry, sandwiches and some
sal volatile" Every sensible, my DEAR"
added the elderly lady. "Just before
leaving home I had some sausages, be-
cause they are staying" Women speak
little in this pen, the effect of the grating
being depressing. No men are allowed,
M. P.'s excepted, who dropped in occa-
sionally to see their friends. Tue only
diversion is tea, or chop served in re.
tiring-room.
The moment M P.'s enter the house,
they remove their hats, bow to the Speak.
er, and generally cover their heads on sit
ling down. Whether this very uncivil
and unbecOming custom is due to their
being no place for hats save under the
benches, where they may be kicked about,
or to the assumption that law makers are
superior beings, entitled to wear their
hats in the presence Of law itself, as the
heads of some certain Spanish grandees
remain covered in the presence of royalty,
T loo To inns ri n thinn 10
tain, keeping the head constantly covered
does not improve the hair; bald heads are
many among commoners. A generous
growth of hair is exceptional. even young
men carefully brushing their locks over
the tops of their heads to conceal the
coming skating rink. Some heads resem-
BILE magnificent billiard balls. I have
gazed upon bald Uranium where the
self.esteem ran up to such point that all
the hair slid down hill and took refuge at
the base of the brain.
To distinguish one man from another
requires far sighted vision, and the effect
Of several hundred hats is not more i'm
posing than an equal number of stove
pipes. Gladstone and Jonn Bright are
almost the only men whose heads are
regularly uncovered. 1t is most inter-
esting TO see these two clever men sitting
beside each other, with their heads to-
gether, looking like venerable owls.
Gladstone seems to enjoy sitting on the
middle of his back, and John Bright ap-
,arently derives comfort from crossing
first one leg and then the other. This
sort of thing proves that even great men
are human. Lord Harrington will wear
his hat, and all we learn from our pen is
that he is tall and slight, and Saxon in
coloring.
The house assemblies at 3:45 P. III.
First the doors fly open; then the "speak-
er" is announced. The usher of the
black rod, bearing the mace, bows in the
speaker, who Is arrayed in long black
gown and flowing wig. He is followed
| by the chaplain and another in wig and
gown. The speaker mounts his throne /;
the black rod lays the mace "a gold crown
poised on red velvet pole long enough to
| handle) across the lower end of the table.
NJ. P.s of punctual turn of mind-their
name is legion-suddenly appear, and
| the chaplain reads the prayers of the day.
| We in the deer-pen hear nothing.
After the chaplain has galloped through
| his duty he exits backward; many of the
| nj. Prs rush out, as though they had just
remembered they ought to be somewhere
else, and business begins. A clerk in
wig and gown, standing at the head OF
| the table, reads about petitions and other
matters IN so mumbling a voice that l
can't hear. M. Prs don't wish to, for
| they jump up and apparently say things
| to themselves, for not one word reaches
| us women. It is tradition in the prov
inces that members are glued to their
seats from 3: 45 P. M. until Z O'Clock,
| when they dash home, embrace their
ff oUo11nU nhnT
and return TO immediate themselves on the
altar of their country until or 5 O'Clock
in the morning. Poor provinces! About
| fifty members do the work, and no mem
Der, active or otherwise, remains In the
| house If he can help it. Our Senators
and Representatives when not busy in
committees are found in their seat, but
our system is different. We put desks,
and papers, and pens and ink, and books
of reference before our legislators, and
tell them to write their letters, etc., with
one eye and both ears on the speakers.
England furnishes her Legislators with
nothing but hard benches, and when they
want to write or improve their minds they
retire to the library or elsewhere. l
don't blame NJ Prs for retreating, partic-
ularly in warm weather, when they can sit
on a charming terrace overlooking the
Thames, and with cigar in one hand and
bottle of soda in the other. may gaze at
the moon, Westminster bridge and St.
Thomas hospital, discussing British in-
terests and the last scandal, while gentle
zephyr kisses their manly brows. What
being In his senses would not prefer this
to the stuffy atmosphere and prosy talk of
the house? When NJ. P.'s are really
wanted a bell warns them, and in five
minutes they are all in their seats ready
for division. Parliamentary disturb
ances generally occur before dinner or
several hours after. when the inner man
cries aloud for supper. It is useless to
deny that we are creatures of appetite
and that brains are an affair of digestion.
AS for myself, have sat in this deer-pen
for ten hours at time, hoping to be star
tied by burst of eloquence. | have sat
in vain. Hereafter shall take my House
of Commons the next morning for break
fast, reportorially.
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