The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-02
HERBERT GLADSTONE AS THE
WHIP.
what the once of the Whip Is in
the British Parliament.

thC hIiAANh
From the New York Herald.
The announcement that Herbert Glad
stone, son of 1.-THE grand old man." has
been appointed parliamentary whip by the
Liberal party in the House of Commons
conveys very indefinite idea to a large
number of Americans to whom the details
of English parliamentary tactics are quite
unknown While very small percentage
| of Americans know just what swhip is,
there are Englshmen who claim that the
House Of Commons could not continue TO
do business IL this Office were abolished,
| and If we consider the nature and mpor-
| lance of the whips duties this claim will
not seem to be ill-fouuded
| According to photographers, a whip.
| whose full title. by the way, Is a whip
! perrin, Is a member OF Parliament whose
chief duty consists in looking after the
| interests of his party, and especially In
| securing the attendance of as many mem
bers as possible at important divisions. In
other words, he plays the same kind OF
role in the parliamentary arena as an
| other type of whipper-in plays In the hunt
| ing field The one is in charge Of a GER
| tain number Of legislators and the other
of certain number of hounds. and the
duty of each is to see that his charges
/ dlttnu 10 DuflNltbS ana promptly 90 the
| tasks assigned to them.
That a parliamentary Office of this kind
is no snecure can Eeadiiy be seen. Each
| political party has a whip, and the first
| duty OF that gentleman is 10 see that none
| of the members Of his party shirk their
| parliamentary duties. Whenever an i'm
| portant division is expected he must noti-
| fly the members, and II he sees any of them
| IN or about the House he must keep
1 .t...
| is called. Furthermore, II is his duty to
instruct the members OF his party how
| they will be expected to vote. Naturally
| he has the entire confidence of his party
| leader, and on this vital subject he acts
| as his mouthpiece.
If he finds that some OF the members
cannot be present In order to vote he must
find pairs for them,, since thus only can
| he guard against any loss through lack of
their votes. Finally whenever party di-
vision takes place he must tell" or
count. the members who have voted But
this Is not all, for when not engaged In
| this routine work, he Is expected to be
| ever on the alert, studying the views and
| opinions of his own party and conveying
faithful impression of them to the par
| ty leader in order that the latter may
be able to judge how far he can count
| on the support of his whole party in any
| tOhio'B NhiNh nc Nldy pIOpOhe 70 take.
Here it is worth noting that the term
whip is applied TO the, summons issued TO
members to be in attendance at certain
| time, as well as to the person who issues
| IL. Thus IL Is correct to say that the LIB
| eral and Conservative parties have issued
a whip in view of the expected division
No matter how many political parties
there may be in the House OF Commons.
each party has whip, who is nominated
| Ixff ha aFfy and nh IL.
aide-de-camp. Now, of all these whips
| the one nominated by the leader Of the
party in power Is in many respects the
most important His constant presence
and activity enable the wheels OF govern
ment to run smoothly, and Il is 10 him
| that the ministry almost wholly looks to
, guard against casual defeats which might
| involve the credit Of the government and
| give TO the opposition an unlocked for vic
| tory. IN like manner the opposition and
any other party which may be represent
ed in the House look to their whips TO hold
! the members together and 10 bring out the
| full party strength whenever a division
takes place.
| Now, at first thought It may seem
strange that there are no whips at Wash
| ington, as there are Westminster but a
| little reflection will show that they are
not necessary. In Congress division Is.
as rue secondary Importance; where
| as in England II may bring with II all
important consequences, since II may re-
| suit in the downfall OF the ministry. In
| Congress division merely afirms or re-
| jects some proposed law or resolution.
and even In the Senate the tenure Of the
| executive Is not disturbed by a division,
even though the question at issue be Of the
| first importance. Under these circum-
stances no reason exists why, as a rule.
| the full strength OF the majority should
| be called out. since the minority, even il
successful. cannot hope to secure any
| great prize.
True, there are occasions In Congress
| when large party interests are at stake.
| and then such work as IS done by whips In
| England is clearly necessary. The ma
jOrity, perhaps, may have bill on which