The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-29
THE HOUSE or COMMONS.
Membership is Not so Desirable as
Many Persons Think.


Most people are under the impression
that the House of Commons is a sort Of
political paradise. in which all the mem
bers enjoy themselves, as they would
in a luxurious club. to the fullest .ex-
tent. The House of Commons, as a mat
ter of fact, bears the bogus reputation
of being the best club in the country
and / rather doubt II It yields an ade-
quate return for all the trouble expended
in endeavoring to enter 1t. i.
If IL has any great resemblance to a
club 1t is at all events-and in this re-
spect it differs entirely from a club-a
place where the needy never cease from
begging and the weary are never at
rest To define II in a few words, It is
a sort of charitable institution, from the
members of which every swindler in the
land thinks he ought to extract a guinea
poor circumstances imagine that the chief
privilege Of an NJ. Il. Is to drain his
The general public have little or no
idea how fervently a man is respected
and loved, nay adored. when he enters
the sacred precincts Of the chamber Of
the display Of this affection is astonish-
ing-particularly In the begging letters,
of which an NJ. p. is the recipient Of
never-ending shoals. The following Is
characteristic letter:
Dear Sir-I beg most heartily to con-
graduate you on making the finest speech
the House of Commons has heard for many
a day For real oratory 1t compares fa-
vorably with the great debaters OF our
time. II was extremely convincing and full
of the deepest thought and the choice
words were remarkable in the extreme.
A. schwindler.
water owing to heavy expenses, and be-
ing constituents of yours, we should be
very grateful If you could spare as a gum
en-. inclose receipt for one guinea In an
At times this indiscriminate begging al
most breaks ones back. and know sew
eral legislators who have been Obliged to
give notice to the effect that they cannot
under any circumstances afford to add to
their already lengthy list of subscriptions.
However II you refuse SUBSCRIPTION 70
and club votes are very handy when you
are In a tight place.
ships are made, the House of Commons "
the best / know. Those who, from me
nature of the speeches they level at zach
other, and because these peroratioRs are
sometimes favored with the spice/of con-
temptuous satire, the public imagine to be
the deadliest of enemies, are often the best
exchequer, Sir William Har06urt and Mr.
Goschen, who are so frequently engaged In
wordy passages of arms may often be
seen engaged together in amiable con-
versation while when Mr.. Gladstone was
in the house. his frieHdly chats with Mr.
Balfour were the subject OF much COM
ment. Mr.. LauboEchere, again, is not
above smoking a/cigarette in the COM
pany Of what hF might be expected TO
term q "crusty conservative. But then
Mr.. Labouchere's friends delight in cali
ing him an aYistocrat.
Any .peculiafity of dress in the house Is
eagerly seized upon as a subject for ioc,,-
lar conversation. We have now, alasf lost
the picturesque figure Of Mr.. Kier Hardie
and his Cloth cap-perhaps the most re-
nowned/and decidedly the most talked of
cap the world has ever known. But NOT
only This. we have to lament the 5esy
dressed man of the last parliAment-AIr.
BQbDy Spencer, who disappeared with the
e3blng tide at the last general election