The Russellville Democrat., 1880-02-26
THE FRENCH CHAMBER.
How the Legislative Business is Carried on Under Monsieur Gambctta's
 Supervision.
London News.


 debate ill the Commons and afterwardl
 goes to see how they manage parliament ary things at the Palais Bourbon, Ii
 struck at first by the much greater de
 corum which French NJ. Ps exhibit ai
 compared with the English ones. Thi.
 impression lasts so long as the member;
 are filing into their places and until tho
 President has taken his scat. The mem bers all uncover their heads and each l goes to his appointed seat, in front ol which be has desk furnished with writing materials. As soon as a deputy 1 sits down he proceeds to write letters l and only suspends operations fer mo-
 ment when a loud roll of drums in the 1 passage outside announces that the Pres l ident is coming A door is thrown open
 and this excited official walks in-not | clothed in wig and gown, but in evening dress and holding a portfolio under his 1 arm. The President is bareheaded. He has a hat hidden away somewhere un- der his desk, but this is only property head dress. intended to be used on stormy occasions when. sitting must be adjourned er dbrupto The donning of his hat by the President Is tantamount
 to the removal of the mace in England, and signifies that the sitting has come to an end. The opening of the seance Is
 effected by the President touching a bell
 that hangs upon swivel. and saying:
 MesseiRrs fd sedRce est 0tre1fs. There are
 no preliminary prayers, as in England.
 While the Parliament sat in Versailles,
 a delegation from both Houses was drawn
 by lot to attend solemn mass at the commencement ot the session, but this custom is not adhered to in Paris. At the outset of a sitting every member seems to be profoundly and almost mournfully impressed by theimportance of the duties he is going to discharge. There is no laughing or chattering aloud. Some members form groups and converse in whispers. Others pull opera glasses out of their desks and stare at the specta- tors ill the galleries, but tbe majority write hard, close envelopes, and beckon to the ushers to carry their letters to the post.
 Placed high on platform covered with red cloth and esconsed in com comfortable armchair the President commands view of every corner of the house He has behind him his private secretary and two questors, at desk be- low him the four secretaries of the House, and at another lower desk, on the floor, the four official short. hand writers. The shape of the house being that of an amphitheatre, the seats of the members are disposed in blocks and tiers. To the extreme right sit the Le- gltimlsts, on the next benches are array ed the Orleanists, while the blocks of right-center forms are occupied by the Bonapartsts. All the benches to the Presidents, left of the middle gangway, are filled with Republicans of different shades, from the Doctrinatres of the centre to the Radicals of the extreme left. The lowermost rows of benches, however, all round the amphitheatre, are reserved to members of the government. the ministers sitting in tbe middle, each with his red portfolio open in front of him. Most of the ministers in the pres ent administration wear ordinary morn- ing dress in the House; but this is quite an innovation, for 1t used always to be the custom for ministers to sport even- ing clothes, along with their orders, if they had any. Under the empire the Senators sat in uniform, and from 1915 to 1850 1t was the custom for members of the Lower House to do so too. In those days the ushers of the Parliament were imposing creatures Tn rutis swords and plumed hats. Nowadays tho ushers simply wear silver chains around their necks. and act as general servants to the members, to carry letters, messages, bal lot-boxes, and occasionally shouting, "Silencel gentlemenp when the Presi- dents bell rings peals of distress.
 The quietude which an Englishman so much admires when first entering the Palais Bourbon, soon gives way to ram- pageous noise once debating has begun. The members do not speak from their places, but from rostrum, and this ar engagement, by putting the most insignifi- cant orator in the position of an actor on a stage, exposed to all eyes, furnishes incessant cause for interruption.
 Their party spirit runs so high that from the moment when speaker has sounded his key he becomes a butt for the jibes of his opponents. If he speaks iluently and well, he excites roars of disapprobation; if he faiter, he is treated to volleys of derisive applause, and to a running accompaniment of music formed by the banging of desk lids, The President Is almost powerless to stop these riots, for when all the mem- bers are excited, no attention is paid to the ringing of his bell, and sometimes, vixen aggressive personalities have been exchanged, one may see dozens of mem- bers descend to the floor of the House, and threaten one another with their fists. The demeanor of the strangers in the galleries helps not little, us rule, to promote strife rather than allay it. for there are always plenty of ladies, and they cannot be withheld from evincing by voice and gesture, what amount of interes, they take in the proceedings.
 The strangers are distributed among q number of tribunes or boxes, each of which has it's special designation. There is one for the corps diplomatique, anoth- CT for senator's, third for quondam dep uties fourth for the army, and so on, The President has box for his private friends, and the representatives of the native and foreign press have a large tribune all 10 themselves. This last box; often called "a loge inferRale," is that whence most noise issues when strife is waxing warm below. The irritable race of scribes, who, in their daily columns, preach all sorts of sermons about good manners and common sense to the pub lie are apt to be unruly as school-boys. Nor do they coIffine themselves to jeer- ing at speakers whom they dislike or applauding those whom they admire; they must needs go and have wrangles among one another, which not unfre- quently end in duels. As for the ladles when the debate fails to interest them, they contrive to draw the attention of members on themselves by fiuttering fN. ..s Ix.&