The morning call., 1894-02-04
CONGRESS AND PARLIAMENT.
Two Deliberatiye Bodies Contrasted.

tire. They have one function less than
their brethren in England. They do not
administer the oath 20 members. That Is
done by 81 eaker Crisp himself. while IL
the house of Commons the clerks 0fficiate
and see to the signing Of the Roll OF Par.
lament, after which the newly introduced
membrr shakes hands with the Speaker,
and takes any seat he can ind. In another
respect there is a difference. The fficia
reporters are seated in Congress in front
of the clerks. and report every word, SC
that the debates ave mountainous IN piles
of print. But in the House of Parliament
there are no official reporters in our sense
OF the term al all. Of late contract has
been made to obtain condensed reports,
which omit great deal of the trash and
commonplace of mediocre speakers, bul
until quite recently few annual volumes
of Hansard sufficed TO entomb all the wis
dom of the British Parliament.
When the Presidents message came the
clerks had to read it tn the Representatives.
but large proportion were not present
and those who remained were not all lis
teners. Yet one member listened very
closely, for when the clerk had finished
the two hours of reading he was required
to read a portion which inadvertently he
had omitted. The Senate does its owi
message reading INDEPENDENTLY OF the
House In England the Queens speech,
as it is called, o. tie royal message. is not
written by the Queen at all, but Is cobbled
up in a o1Ce-podge manner. and some
times with shocking violence 10 grammar,
by the Cabinet jointly and seyerally. In
stead of containing as much as possible.
expressed clearly and definitely, the art OF
composing ii is expended IN rendering II
vague and nOn-cOmmi tal. but with a
catch phrase here and there TO toss IN the
political saucepan, and nebulous ln1lca-
ton of measures TO be introduced. This
gracious message is read by the Lord
Chancellor in the House of Lords, anG the
Speaker and the faithful Commons are in
vitrd TO listen thereto at the farther END
of the august cham ber, where they are
safe to hear not one word in ten. Then
when the Speaker returns to the Commons,
and debate on The message is about to
begin, for the purpose Of voting an ad.
dress in answer. he sOlemnlv reads 1t aloud
to buzzing assembly. The debate thereon
may be over in a night, and 1t has been
known to last several weeks.
In Congress the message has no formal
response-no set debates upon its terms.
That is a great saving of time. But it is
curious to find the comment made that the
particular aroma about the message of
President Cleveland that gave concern on
this occasion was not bout Hawaii or the
tariff, but anent the REGULAR enterprise of
letting a newspaper in London get hold Of
the contents before Congress or the news
papers of America were taken into conf
dence. Perhaps there was some miscalcu-
lation as to the difference of local time
between London and Washington. OF
which difference the telegraph takes no
cogniZance, when a dispatch is sent across
the Atlantic and is flashed back almost
Immediately TO people for whom ii was
not originally intended.
The SDeaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives not only pre>ides but is verv
active supporter OF the administration, a
party man on every occasion when he can
show his skill. H. also appoints commit
tees and takes pains to give them the e. M
pleXion he approves CT. The Speaker. in
short. IS very real power in all the pro-
CeedDgs of Congress. In the House If
Commons, however, the Speaker is simply
the mOuthpiece of the whole House. bound
to apply the rules of debate and insist
upon the forms which The House itsair
sanctions, and whenever he is nnnplused
by new situation Involving doubt he asks
for the guidance of the House. He has
sometimes to nominate members Oh COM
mittees, but this duty as a rule is pr
formed by committee or by Government
or members. The Speaker shows himself
in his highest character by being ahso-
lutely impartial, neither friend nor foe
Of any party, and only solicitous for the
dignity of Parliament and fair play in de-
bate. He can be stern in reprim ana and
gentle in suggestion, and he is within
bounds disciplinarian and autocrat. 1t
is one of his social functions to give din
ners at his official residence, and every
member in turn is iUvited. The conpli-
ment Of dining with ''the first gentleman
of The land" is first extended to her
Majesty's Ministers. then to her Maiesty's
opposition, then to the rank and file. The
Irish members once held ai0of from these
parties, but eventually yielded and made
right merry company for those invited t.
meet them. In hi desire to show friendly
hospitality. the Speaker is not de rigueur as
to a dress coat. The labor member, Keir
Hardie. who loves 10 be slovenly. is wei
come in his homespun and tweed cap if he
thinks these habiliments essential to man
illness.
Concerning the personnel of our House
Of Representatives. the Chronicle corre-
spOndent has this to say: My reflection
this time, as years ago in Washing ton. was
that this bodv is genuine representative
assembly. These are the same kind of
men that you see iD railway trains, on
streetcars. in Offices. The masher type, so
conspicuous In the House of Commons, is
almost absent, only one or two mem bers
giving the appearance of being fashion
able. The great mass are average men.
not very well dressed, but strong and
a minority, especially on the Democratic
side. where soft black felts prevail. A
general tone of bonhomie and geniality
perVades the great chamber, whose gal
leries half an hour before the opening are
crowded with 1000 spectators"
The difference between the two cham
bers lies good deal in this impression.
The House OF Representatives meets for
business. About the House Of Commons
there is an air of the conference-room OF
of formality, as if many members did not
meet for business but only to look on OF
dawdle abOnI. This impression is helped
by the habits of members. There being
no requirement for quorum beyond forty
members, business often proceeds in a
very slim house. If member calls the
Speakers attention to the fact that forty
members are not in attendance the Speaker
is bound to count, and if there be even one
less than forty he forthwith adjourns the
House for the day. He has no power to
order rolicall or to bring members within
the House from the library, the dining.