The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-09-15
GREAT MEN IN PARLIAMENT,
They Are NOW Growing to He Ccnspicuou
Hx Thar Ahaetaca


Thsy Are Nov Growing to He Csnspicuous
by Their Absence
Americans who have looked over the
returns from the recent British cleo
tions will be struck by the lack Of great
names which appear on the roll Of the
successful candidates. Aside from
Gladstone, Dixie, Labouchere, Davitt,
Chamberlain, Mccarthy, Sexton and .
few others only very small number OF
the men who will compose the popular
branch Of the next British parliament
| are known to newspaper readers out
side Of their own country. Nor will the
new house of commons be at all excep-
tional in this respect A glance at the
roll Of the house which has recently ex-
pired will reveal similar paucity in
striking personalities In this respect
that body would suffer in comparison
with the average house of represent
atives in this country.
The present house, of course, could
hardly be considered typical Amer
lean legislative body. 1t does not stand
for the mean of what the country has
done in the past in this line. 1t is not
house such as was the fifty first,
fiftieth or forty-ninth. More obscure
men were elected to the present body
than to any other chosen since 1874
An unusual large number of the mem
bers of the existing house were never
heard of outside of their district before
they were nominated in 1890, and will
never be heard Of again after they step
down into private life next March. Yet
the intelligent resident of Canada or
France will probably be able to pick
out more names familiar to him on the
roster Of the house Of representatives
than he could on that Of the house of
commons, which is a little moro than
double as long
Has political life in Great Britain
fewer attractions for men of real force
and ability than it has in the United
States, or are the chances for individual
members of the national Legislature to
go to the front and reveal themselves to
the world less than they are here? The
absence of compensation for national
Lawmakers in that country, perhaps, is
factor in this problem, as this, to a
considerable extent, rules poor men
out of the list, and restricts it to men
of wealth and to those who can secure
financial aid from their constituents or
from friends of the cause for which
they stand. In this respect the house
of commons is not SO fully or fairly rep
resentative of the masses of the people
as the corresponding body in this coun-
try is, and may be expected to suffer,
to some extent, in capacity, earnestness
and vigor on this account The system
of party organization which places in
itiative and direction in the hands of
one man selected by common consent
and clothed with almost absolute power
over his followers, as in Great Britain,
tends to hamper individual effort, and
to prevent the manifestation or develop
ment of individual capacity. Thus only
the leader and one or two of his lieu
tenants ever come far enough into the
foreground to be discerned outside the
country. The house of commons has,
in sum total, grander record for abili-
ty, eloquence and general capacity than
any other of the worlds great legisla-
tive assemblies, but this renown has
been gained from the efforts of one or
two men in decade, and becomes
striking and conspicuous because it
represents the accumulated triumphs
and glories Of long centuries of time
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