The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-21
ity over parliaanent-that is..to say, over
the most i1npoTtaAt part I herebf. nam CIV

ity over parlialnen isy,tQ say, over
the most important part -thereof namely,
the house of commons. He can suspend
a member; he can stop the prime min
lister on DpRteaof procedure; he can
close a debate; he can decide the most
nomentous stfh1tional questions by q
few words snokeE in private conference
behlnd the chair; he can overrule the
cabinet on1peislts (which may, be vital to
Its policy, AIfslg W71iscfr may either enhance
or discredit the authority in the house,
and it is he alone who decides who is
to speak and VINO is to remain silent. No
secretary eff state, not even the first lord
Of the. treasury, who holds the title OF
leader Of the house." is able to speak
in parliament without having obtained
the permission of "The First Commoner
Of the Land by means of the peculiar
process known as catching the speakers
eye.% LIZ
There is no opticEfn the. world that has
/ played sostnsRortaIit a part iltshisfory as
. the "eye| of The speaker. Its power and
rights are not baked on any written law
! but on fepg established custom and ira
dition. OFTEN several members rise in
their places at once5 sndeavoring to arrest
the wandering optic of the speaker, and
it is then free to that august functionary
to make his selection and to indicate the
member who has his permission to speak
While he genera IkyS comedies priority to
new Corners who. are about to address the
house for the fist time, yet he is SO i'm
partial in the Performance of this par
ticular duty that, within the memory of
the present generation at any rate, no
speaker of the house of commons has
been taxed with unfairness. OF course,
this antiquated method is attended by
many disadvantages, and it often hap,
pens that members are prevented from
addressing the house for weeks together
and debarred from taking any part in
the debate owing to their failure to
"catch the speakers eye.
Failing eyesight is an almost insuper-
able bar TO the retention of the speaker
snip, and it was solely on this ground
that Speaker Brand, one of the most re-
n1lrkabIe occupants of the office in the
reign of Queen Victoria, was compelled
to resign
HOW. SPEAKER IS CHOSEN.
The manner in which the speaker is
elected at the opening of q new parlia-
ment is as folloWs:5 On the day appointed
by royal proclamation for the meeting
of the newly elected legislature the mem
bers assemble in the house Of commons,
the speakers chair. remaining empty, and
the mace of office being under, instead Of
on the table. A few minutes after
o'clock-that is the usual hour for the
ceremony-the n. doorkeeper announces
~''Black Rod, and -the latter, who is the
principal executive official of the house
Of lords, enters, and with number of
bows to the speakers empty chair, invites
"this Acknowledgement to repair ito an
other place" to hear the reading Of the
royal commission, by means Of which par
lament is ope11ed. He then retires, bow
ing thrice, and issfollowed by the chief
clerk of the house of commons, a queens
counsel, wearing the wig, the silk robes,
the queer-fashioned coat, black knee
breeches and silk stockings of his Office,
and by most of, the members of parlia-
ment, who take. up their position at the
bar of the house Of lords and listen to
the reading of the commission opening
the new parliament. The royal commits
sioners, consisting of the lord high chan
cellor and four other peers, arrayed in
the scarlet and ermfne-barred robes of
their rank, are seated in fsZe on the
woolsack in front of the throne At the
conclusion of the reading of the sover-
eign's message the commons flock back
to the lower chamber. After they have