Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-05
Points Of Resemblance Between It
and the Senate.
bow A new PEER TAKES HIS Seat
Curious Ceremonies of EnpIand's
Hereditary Chamber.
AS A COURT OF APPEAL
Written for The Evening Star.

4 VrNteu Inc Evening Star.
! Mr.. Alexander MacDonnell, clerk of the
house of lords, London, has just returned
home after visit of several weeks to this
country. in the course of his trip Mr. Mac
Donnell visited Washington and was thus
enabled to make a comparison between the
methods of our own Senate and the august
| body with which he is officially connected
How do the methods of conducting bust
| ness in the house of lords compare with
| those of the American Senator" he was
| asked.
| well, in reality" said the clerk to the
| British peers, there isn't as much differ
| ence as you would imagine 1t doubtless
| will surprise most Americans, as L know il
| would most Englishmen, to know that the
two houses get through their work in the
| same way to large extent
| II will confess that was a little disap-
| pointed in your Senate. 1 expected to find
| fire, eloquence, animated debate and /
| didn't get it. Perhaps 1t was because there
was no great question on for consideration
| at the time of my visit. As L saw it, the
| chamber was certainly very quiet and
there was no lack of dignity and decorum
| in Its conduct 1 did not see any drawn
| revolvers. bowie knives or fist fights such
as we have sometimes heard about in Eng
iand Perhaps some of those were myths.
Rather n disappointment
| Il have admitted that 1 didn't find the
| American Senate altogether as I had fam
| cied it, and 1 dare say that you would be
| even more disappointed when you came to
| look into the house of lords"
But isn't there much more ceremony in
| the work of the peers?"
ordinarily, no; on certain occasions,
yes replied Mr.. mcdonnell. here
| seems to be notion more or less preva-
| lent over here that the members of the
| lords sit about on separate thrones, clad in
! robes OF state. and with coronets on their
| heads. In reality the peers usually sit in
| morning dress, and not always very cor
| rect dress at that. The members wear
| their hats in the chamber, though nobody
| else Is permitted to remain covered there
| Most of the regular attendants are buried
| in papers, and they speak, as your sena-
| tors do. like barristers, trying to bring out
| their points clearly, rather than with any
| attempt at eloquence. The numbers in at
| tendance seem to be very nearly the same
| though of course the membership Of the
house or lords is much greater. There are
| about $50 eligible voters now but the ary-
| est vote that has been recorded in recent
| years was about 800, / think. That was
on Mr.. Gladstone's home rule measure
which was summarily thrown out by a
| great majority.
The Queens Assent.
''Of course the peers have certain Of
fees and certain formal functions which
are inherited, and some of these require a
great OI ceremony. FOR example, the
formal notification of the royal assent is
one of these, and when the assent of the
| crown to any list of measures is to be for
7; mally expressed the lord commissioners at
tend the chamber in state-that is TO say
in their robes-and sit together at one side
OF the room. The speaker Of the commons
ard his attendants are also present in the
space reserved for them. At table mid
way between these two groups are the clerk
of parliament and the clerk of the crown
The latter holds in his hand a list of bills
and before reading each title he bows first
| to one and then the other of these groups
SO that If his list is IA long one he gets
a good bit of exercise out of the perform
| ance. After each title he repeats the
| words, LIE reyne lie veult (the queen as
sents). The words, and. in fact. the whole
ceremony, are given exactly they We're
| in the first parliaments.
Two years ago attempt was made
| to modify this ceremony, TO the extent
of having the words pronounced in En-
glish, but it was not done, and the SEN
| tence is still spoken in its Norman French
| form.
Another occasion which is attended
| with formal ceremony is the creating of
new peer. The new member is
| Quoted into the chamber, clad in his robes
| and preceded by the garter kng-at-arms
| If a baron, he sits down on what is known
| as the baron's bench, if a viscount at the
| viscounts bench, and so on. After
ment he rises and bows to the lord chan
| cellor, who returns the bow, removing the
| cooked hat which he wears for the occa-
| sion. The distinction between the various
| benches, by the way, is kept up only on
the introduction of new members: at other
times the peers sit wherever is most con-
venient, except the lords spiritual, who
still occupy a particular section, as they
| have from time immemorial.
How the Peers Do Business.
There are certain pecuharities in the
manner of conducting debate in the house
chambers. For instance, member on
rising to speak does not address the chair
but invariably begins, My lords Thus, IL
two members wish to speak at the same
time, the lord chancellor does not decide
| which shall have the floor. One gives
| way of his own accord. or else some other
| member calls out which shall continue. In
| a body like the commons or your own
| Congress this arrangement might not work
| well, but among the peers there Is never
| any difficulty over it.
Another popularity of the lords is that
the sittings are very brief compared with
| those of other houses. The peers do not i.
| convene till 4:15 in the afternoon and rise
| in time for dinner at g. This is because
the lords have a small amount of business
| to consider compared with the vast bulk
| that passes through the hands of the COM
mons.
| when the lord chancellor himself wishes
| to speak he steps aside from his accus-
toned place during his address. There is
| a curious reason for this. 1t is that the
| woolsack is technically considered as out
| side the house of lords. 1t has happened
| on one or two occasionas that it has been
| occupied by one who was not a peer
| The WOolsacl1.
| what is the woolsack?"
"The woolsack is the name given to the
| lord chancellor's seat 1t is a crimson
| cushion, with no side or back support, and
1