New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-06-13
IN THE COMMONS.
ROOM-CIIAMBERLA AND LABOU-
CIIERE CHEEK By JOwL-
THE IRISH WELCOME.
AN CID ENEMY.
London. June =.

is the rendezvous OF men Of al parties and fac
lions 1t is enpticd whenever an important
question Is debated or when the gong sounds for
division. 1t fills up again when a dull speaker
Is on his feet droning to vacant benches. or
when voting has ended in the division passages
the members having filed out and returned. 1t
is the most popular room Of the best club in
London. and democratic spirit OF good
fellowship pervadcs it. The intrgues which
going behind the may be
witnessed there every day. 1t is where the
party whips confer with one another and with
their followers where signals are exchanged for
a renewal of party skirrnshing or for tempo
rary truce and where political enemies meet
on common ground and agree TO help one an
o;her on the broad principle that ono good turn
deserves another
Mr. Chamberlain. FOR example. sauntcrs every
day through the smoking room lie defeated
Irish Home Rule and excited the passionate
hatred of the Nationa,ists; but he mods pleas
antly to them when he passes them. and they
smile in return, for they admire his pluck and
lighting power. He is powerful Minister in
a Conservative Government and is closely
ISOLATED with the Tories; but he drops into
chair by the side OF Mr. Labouchere. a Radical
among Radicals. and chats with him in the
friendliest possible way Mr.. Chamberlain who
is hard smoker and energetic even in his mo-
ments Of incidence, puffs away vigorously AT a
strong cigar. looking for all the world like
college undergraduate. in spite Of his siXty-two
years. Mr.. Labouchere smokes one cigarette az
ter another with the critical air of epicUre
who has sampled the tobacco Of every cline and
knows the choicest brand The two heads draw
closer and closer together. the black haired.
smooth face with the monocle and the wrinkled
raybeard with the Mephis,orhelian smile. and
they are merry companions when they are not
exchanging mysterious whispers. 1t is a strange
sight which could not be seen anywhere else.
and not even there under ordinary conditions;
and since they together cheek by jowl almost
every day. the members OF the House are gos-
siping about II industriously.
What do these old allies. but recent enc
mes-onc a Radical masquerading Tory
Democrat and n Unionst Minister, and the
other Liberal Radical as TO be excluded
from Progressive Cabinet-hnd to talk
about? Is 1t the South African investigation
which brings them together in the smoking
room. although il pits them against each other
at the public hearings? or is it Tory Democ-
racy. which has been forced upon the Conserva-
tive Government and which is Radical enough
in principle suit even Mr.. Labouchere? The
spectators who are Willing away time in the
s,nokinC-room and awaiting orders from the
party whips cannot answer these questions To
their own satisfaction. But day after day Mr..
Chamberlain and Mr.. Labouchece are summing
themselves in each others smiles and laughing
while they smoke. They are not sentimentalistS.
They have a cold hard. practical way of deal
ing with the essential facts of politics. 1t may
be confidently assumed that they understand
each other and are not hobnobbirE in the smok
ing-room without having motive.
\ STRANGE INTIMACY
Mr.. Labouchere and Mir. Chamberlain have /
been useful to each other in the South African /
inquiry. whether they meant 10 be not. The I
Secretary FOR the Colonies had promised the
House of Commons thorough, in partial in /
veStigatiOn, and the most practical method OF /
redeemng this pledge was TO put Mr.. Rhodes's !
kcenest and most uncompromisinS critic the /
committee ami to allow him liberty of action. T
Mr.. Labouchere has served Mr.. Chamberlain's /
purpose Without him it would have been .
superficial Investigation, conducted languidly
and without sincerity. Mr. Labouchere has been f
bent upon convictinS the millionaire spectators /
rather than the permanent officials OF the Colo .
NAL Office and in this respect he has been a
ally His cross eXamina ton of Mr. }
Chamberlain yesterday was not conducted in n 4
hostile spirit. He seemed to be anxious to aid /
the Secretary for the Colonies in emphasizing
certain points. Mr.. Chamberlain in his turn
has been useful to Mr. Labouchere. whose in !
discretion in commenting upon the case and in /
making some reckless charges against the mill .
onaires OF the Rand has been lightly passed .
over.
Some of the loungers of the snlok inc-roc,, r,r,-