Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-17
A Visit to the House of Parliament
at Ottawa.
LOTS OF ENTERTAINMENT
Some of the Humors of Campaign
ing in the Far North.
POLITICS AND RELIGION

Written for The Evening Star by Cy. warman.
Parliament meets in the afternoon at OF
tawa, takes recess for supper, reassembles
and sits far into the night, unless some
one gets tired. Just at the opening of the
house the scene is the least bit stately and
imposing, but only for a moment, when the
sergeant-at-arms enters bearing the great
mace, the emblem of authority, followed
by Sir James Edger, author and poet who
is the dignified speaker of the Canadian
commons. When the mace is placed upon
the green cloth covered table Sir James
takes the chair, the high-backed hand
carved chair, that will never be occupied
by any other speaker. Not that the in
cUmbent has a life job, but because
| when Ire goes he takes the chair away with
him. His successor will have new one.
That is one of the rules of the house.
The moment the house settles down to
business it becomes simplicity itself If
the people of staid Canadian town We're
assembled to discuss ways and means for
the purchase of a new cart, the partici-
pants could not be less self-conscious. or
more at ease, than are these far-called
| members of parliament.
The chamber in which the lower house
sits is very like that of the House of Rep
resentativcs al Washington. The speaker
sits in the same position. at one side but
| the seats do not circle; they stand in rows,
parallel with the speakers glance as he
looks out over the level space where the
secretaries and shorthand men, called Han
sard men here, do their work.
Lounge in Their Places.
The seats all have desks in front of
them, where the members write letters
home explaining why, when they ought to
be listening to the opposition goading the
government The Canadian lawmakers
lounge in their seats with their hats on
and neckties up behind, as carelessly and
cadaverishly as the NJ. P.'s lounge in Lon
don.
But l like the way they run the show.
II s all open, every minister must be a
member and be on hand to explain things
away. In this way they keep their scan
dals pretty well cleared up. instead of
keeping them suppressed until the cans be
gin to explode.
The first six seats in the front row to
the right and to the left of the speaker
are handsomely upholstered. These are
for the ministers, the ms and the outs
the ms to the right and the outs TO the
left Always In the sixth seat from the
end the premier, who is the leader sits.
ard directly opposite Sir WilfTid sits the
eX-premier, the venerable Sir Charles Tup-
per- Bart, G. c. NJ. CT, the leader of the
opposition, his fine old English face con-
tradicting the story that he is an old man.
Directly behind the ex-premier his sor,
Sir Charles Hilbert Upper, sits. He comes
llclh lar vancouver to tWlt the government
about the Klondika.
Rule Vast Empire.
Now, as we sit in the gallery, and my
Scottish friend, who has kindly consented
to be my guide and interpreter, points out
the different members, and where they
come from, L begin to realize that these
m an rule vaster empire than has been"
mat big man there, with one end of his
collar at large. comes from the far corner
OF Nova Scotia, and the short man With
careless hair is from Edmonton, away out
where the road ends ard the narrow trail
leads away into the land of gold. and of the
midnight sun. The neat, smooth faced little
Ehsllsnnan IN evening dress comes frora
British Columbia. 1t took him eighteen
months to canvass his district and ,-ust
my friend said eighteen thousand dollars
You would not notice it in his walk" he
Sc@tchman added, but one of his legs is
longer than the other now
object. object" said a blonde man.
and he looked it.
What is it the honorable gentleman OBJ
1ects to! asked the speaker
object TO the honorable sentleman's
constant reference TO me as the Reverend
Mr.. Blank - 'iu
The man who had committed the breach
iooked puzzled. He could not understand
why an eX-minister of the gospel sho,,;d
0pJect TO being called the Reverend M.
bIahk' but the chair ruled that the lam
sudse was supplementary, ordered II all
RUBBED out and instructed the offending
member to confine himself to the ordinary