The morning call., 1892-07-26
TWO LEGIsLATIvE BODIES.

The composition of the Parliament just
elected in Great Britain compares curiously
with that of the Flfty-seeond Congress.
The lower house Of Parliament contains
go members; the House of Representa-
tives only 332-less than half as many. We
should fnd ii difficult to transact business in
so large a body. and. as matter of fact tie
chamber in which Parliament meets will
not hold all the members elected; 1t Is an
understood thing that large number Of
members will not attend; the real business
Of the season is transacted with bare
quorum.
OF the go members elect of the new Par
lament 16i are lawyers, less than one
fourth of the whole. OF the 332 members Of
Congress, precisely the same number-l64-
are lawyers, but they constitute nearly half
the body. A number Of members of Con-
gress who are classed under other heads
have been admitted TO the bar, and though
they have ceased TO practice, may be as
sumed to retain something of their own
professional camaraderie, 80 that it may be
said that the House of Representatives is
dominated by the legal profession. No
measure is likely to pass which is antag-
onistic to its interests. Whether the public
veal is promoted by this preponderance of
lawyers is a question which need not be dis
cusSed. As lawyers mOn0poilZe the busi-
Dess of interpreting the law, perhaps they
are the fittest class to frame laws, though in
England they are less prominent amOug law
makers than with US.
The agricultural interest is represented
in Parliament by So members, one-eishth of
the whole b dy. who are called gentry and
landowners. But to these must be added 10
tenant farmers and 80 peers sens or broth
erS, who occupy their seats by virtue Of
their relatives estates, so that the number
OF mem beIs who are supposed to represent
land IS 12S, neatly one-ffth Of the body.
In our House Of Representatives there are
81 farmers and planters. not quite one-ffth
OF the whole body. Ia Parl ament the
gentry and land owners" and peers sons
and brothers belong to the class which sup
plies tie list OF habitual absentees. They
generally 20 into Parliament for glory, be-
cause the House Of Commons is ''the best
club in England" Oar agricultural men,
bers are often among the best informed and
most active members Of the House. They
must not be c0nfounded with the Farmers
Alliance members. who number eight In the
Fifty-second Congress.
There are y manufacturers in Parliament
and only 10 10 the House Of Representa-
tives. o. the other hand, the mauufactur-
ers have no representation in the House Of
Lords, and quite a large representation,
direct and indirect, in our Senate. The
actual number Of manufacturers who have
been elected members of Parliament OF of
Congress affords no measure Of the iGllu-
euce Of the manufacturing interest. There
are in Parliament % railroad directors, who
were elected as such to represent the rail-
road interest. In Congress there are few
members who are directly connected with
railroads, though there are several in the
Senate.
Ia the new Parliament 1Oj members are
officers Of the army or navy or auxiliary
services. This is a class which is not rep
resented az al in the House Of Representa-
tiVes. The great bulk OF the members
| of Congress served in the civil war on one
SIDE or the ether, but at The close of the war
they retired to private lite, ami at the
present time they retain 10 afflHalion with
the services. In Great Britain the army
and navy are national institutions which it
is the pride OF an Englshman 10 cherish ;
the feeling is that they ought 10 be rep
resented in Parliament apar. from the
people.
lutlt dAc % mtICuduLS III dttidMeD4,
say one-twelith of the body, and 20 meT-
chants in Congress, say one-sixteenth OF the
body. IN England the merchants are sup
posed to represent the mercantile interest,
and are appealed 10 for counsel on mercal =
tile questions; with US a merchant does not
represent his class, but is a representative
Of the people without regard to his ayoca-
tion. Many merchants in Congress have
been lawyers or soldiers or planters, and
are not specifically chosen by mercantile
bodies.
Thirty-fye editors sit in Parliament
and IA sit in Congress. This does not
reflect The proportion of writer's in the two
| bodies. A large proportion of the needy
members Of Parliament support themselves
by writing for the press, while an Ameri-
can editor when he goes TO Congress has
very little time for literary composition,
and does not need to keep it up as a means
Of support.
As whole the British Parliament differs
from our House Of Representatives mainly
in the fact that it is rather body repre-
sentative Of classes, while our House gener-
ally represents the people at large regard
less OF class.