New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-08-13
THE WORK AT WESTMINSTER.

Tho now British Parliament. which met yes
,.rdov for the first time has made n good be-
Ginning II has. without n dissenting vote. re-
elected Mr.. Gully TO the Speakership. In doing
so II has or it's Unionst majority has, performed
n notably generous and patriotic act There was
M LOCAL nor moral reason for doing IT, excepting
tbe desire TO keep that Office above and free
from marty politics Perhaps we might say to
mi II there and TO keep 1t there, for In the last
session II was brought down dangerously near
N tbe nortisan level Mr.. Gully, as all men
lnow was not chosen on non partisan grounds
JJe was not chosen because Of especial ability
or fitness for the place. He was selected by the
padcals and made their candidate over the
heads Of more experienced men, simply because
no was a thoroughgong Radical; and he was
mt in the chair as PARTISAN by party vote
-, a uorihund Government, in the last days OF
the session. Certainly that was not dignihed
oocoss,on to the chair nor was II one which inc
new Government was bound to reafiirm. MI
C,,ur mode however. an admirable Speaker,
rising entirely above all party bias, ana the
I-n,on;s+s have recognized that fact by unani-
mously re-electine him. Thus is maintained the
opc,ont and honorable practice Of making the
Sneaker non-partsan official, and OF keeping
serves acceptably. no matter whether 'he par"
TO which he nominally belongs remains IN power
or not How steadfastly this pracrce mas peen
followed may be judged from the fact that since
the Reform Act, more than sixty years ago.
there has never been single Ionser'auNe
sneaker although of course there have been
large Conservative majorities in several farila-
ments Now, at the beginning or new anu
probably long Parliament. in which they nave
an overwhelming majority. the unionists accept
n Radical Speaker and the chances are that ne
will continue to serve as long as this Parliament
lasts
Apart from that most gratifying incident, the
proceedings Of yesterday were not marked Win
special interest. The day was taken up, as
day or two more may be. with the swearinSin
Of members and other routine formalities. When
ar last the House gets down TO business, II VIII
probably have little to do In this session win
tbe Twelfth Of Anglst-day OF days for sport
loving Engshmen-alread past, and WIN the
mercury in ihe blazing nineies, there VIII DE
brief tarryiig at Westminster. Supply must be
passed Of course, in quiet and non contentious
manner Then the House will doubtless adjourn
until the late autumn, or even until next year
To that time will be postponed the revealing OF
the new Governments programme OF legislation
Such. we take H. are the plans the Unionlst
leaders now have in mind There Is really no
reason why they should do otherwise. Like
some other countries, Great Britain has suffered
from too much political agitation and too much
nwmaking or law-tinkering. period Of rest
from all such things will have wholesome
effect
II is not. however, to be expected that this
Parliament will be "a do nothing body all through
It's life Conservative Paraments have some
times had the reputation of being such But
this Is not Conservative but Unionist Parlia-
ment and among its leaders are some OF the
most aggressive and interchangeable workers III
the Empire. 1t is, too, popular body. IL was
elected not by pocket boro,i-hs' and the priv
LEGGED classes but by the masses" OF the Brit
ish people. That is perfectly evident. Granted
that a ma jorty perhaps Il large majority, OF the
classes as Mr. Gladstone called them. were
on the Unionist side. Il majority OF the masses
must have been on the same side, or II never
could have got overwhelming majority. We
have not at hand the complete returns from Ire
land but in England, Scotland and Wales the
I'nionstS had in the recent elections. Il majority
Of more than quarter Of million in the pop
Mar vote British legislators are. as rule.
pretty well In touch with their constituencies
and obeslient to their will We may therefore
expect TO see this Parliament next year enter
upon the great works Of social and other i'm
provement which the people OF the Kingdom
desire 1t may not do SO in the right way. or
with the right spirit In that case 1t may expect
to be dealt with by the indignant electorate as
was It's predecessor. and even more severely.
With the largest majority In sixty years. il has
before II one Of the greatest OF opportunities and
of needs We shall see how 1t fulfils the ex-
pectatOns Of those who made ii.