Evening star., 1901-03-04
Winston Churehillfk Maiden Effort in
ParliamentRSucces
LORD CRANB0RNEl THE REVERSE
The Premier's Soa'kearIy Wrecked
the Governmentby Indiscretion.
BAD WEATHER, IN EUROPE
special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star
LONDON, February 20. 1901.
Two circumstances combined to make
Monday nights sitting Of parliament inter-
esting. The first was the stupid indiscre-
ton OF Lord Salisbury's son, Lord Gran
borne, who Is under secretary for foreign
affairs. was being heckled about China by
fhe Irish members, and the other was the
first appearance Of another lords son.
Winston Churchill, whose famous father
has long been dead. The Irishmen made
the most of Lord Cranborne's mistake in
blurting out that he. was not allowed by
his superiors to answer awkward questions
sprung upon him, and, gave parliament a
lively evening, quite on old lines, incident
ally nearly wrecking the government The
chances are that this brilliant flower Of
the Cecil Family. Limited" will be re-
moved by his relatives to less prominent
position. When it was known that RAN
doph Churchflls son was going to make
his maiden speech in commons interest was
all afoot and crowds fiocked' to see and
would turn out to be-. No young man has
for a long time aroused so much interest
at Westminster. When sitting In the house
or moving about the lobby he has been
eyed as a new actor has been eyed on the
stage during rehearsals, and of whom
great deal Is expected Whether 1t was by
accident or intention, young Churchill
found himself on Monday night in the very
seat favored by his father before he held
office.
And when he rose to speak what mag
nificent audience he had! The chamber
overf1owing. a crowd of men about the bar.
lords and bishops up In the peers gallery
and many women's faces pressed against
the grille of the ladies' gallery. And In
that packed gallery, everybody a critic.
watching to see what sort Of a start he
l,f. i. III
made his debut. Those who have not seen
him face to face can hardly appreciate
what boy he looks. He is twenty-six, but
he is so fair, with not hair on his lip that
you might easily take him for lad OF
eighteen.
Like His Father, He Is No Orator.
He is not an orator any more than his
father was. Allowing for the natural ner-
vousness incident to this his maiden parlia-
mentary speech. there was a breezy frank
ness and yet an incisveness. and now and
then a flash Of humor. followed. may be- in
a moment by a deep serious thought. that
lifted him away above the usual grafton OF
young man. He has many OF the gestures
of his father. such 6as the sudden jerking
forward of the head and clenching the fists
and beating the air, as though, hammering
home an argument.
He defended the war Vigorously, and at
the same time praised the Beers. and hoped
the government would make it honorable and
easy for them to surrender and yet pain
fully perilous for them to continue the
struggle And looking round the house af-
ter speaking nearly an hour he thanked
it for the kindness extended to hlm-not, he
knew on his own account, but because OF
a certain splendid memory-a touching al
lusion to his dead father, twho had built up
so brilliant a political reputation from that
very spot where the, son now stood.
The young mans speech was puntuated
.lro, - hrnr and nn-
tirely successful The lecture platform has
evidently helped him greatly. To this ex-
perience he adds a certain self assertive
confidence which will doubtless always
stand him IN good stead.
Not very popular among his fellows, he
will, however. make good politician and
may be trusted to look always to the main
chance. Successful he is sure to be and
Joseph Chamberlain, push his way to the
top some day. His first appearance In par
Lament justifes the compliment paid him
by Mark Twain in introducing him In
America at his first lecture. when the gentle
humorist said he combined the best ele-
ments in the world. being born as he was
"of an American mother and an English
father.
True to their idea OF giving trouble and
making the otherwise dreary British par
Lament more cheerful. learn that some OF
the Irish members signed their names In
the books Of commons in the ancient Erse
language.
The clerks Of the house were at first as
tonished at the strange names that were
inscribed IN the records of which they had
charge They have hunted up precedents
on the matter, and they have found an old
statute which has led them to the con-
clusion that the innovation for whicn Mr.
Flavin is responsible is against the law. .
Accordingly, that Hibernian patriot ana
his friends have had to re-enter their
names In English. Their enthusiasm on be-
half of their ancient language Is, however,
inexhaustible. One Of the motions TO come
before the house is demand for a gov
ernment subsidy for the teaching OF Erse
Several Irish members who have taken to
studying the odd language. intend to ad-
dress the house in their own tongue, ana
extraordinary scenes are expected.
King Untiring In His Activity.
The kings activity has been so unttring
that he has completely worn out all the
state officials who have had to arrange
under his direction all the recent state
pageants. The sorrow Of these function
aries over the loss Of the queen. in fact,
grows keener every day, as they are enabled
to judge more accurately what the change
means to them. The worst of 1t Is that the
king appears to know. all about their du-
ties more perfectly than they do them
selves, and, what is more, he expects from
every one around him the same indefati-
gable industry that he brings to his own
work Nothing, l am told, could be more
masterful or self -assertive than the king
since the moment or his accession.
He had evidently planned out his policy
beforehand In his own mind. and had fore
stalled every contingency that has arisen.
He Is liberal and agreeable to those officials
who know their business and are ready to
do It willingly. but to others he is quite
unsparing The experiences they have had
during the past month have reconciled the
old-fashioned go-as-you-please state func-
tionaries to the prospect Of surrendering
months. fiiS
The king intendsa tph drive about London
a good deal in a motor car during the pres
ent season. He possesses three conveyances
of this kind, and is known to be Of opinion
that people are uhdesirably backward in
this country in adopting so convenient
method of locomotisHn The prospect, there
fore, seems to be tHae iiere long the park
will be as busy with motor traffic as two or
three years ago it beeSnfe with cycle traffic
The utilization ofof fheF motor car for pur-
poses other than fits !Iprasent uses as We
hicle for pleasure or rYofsbusiness is engag-
ing attention In mhrS 37uarters. Mr. Bal
four's suggestion that We may look to the
automobile to provide IA solution Of the
difficult problem or housing the over
crowded population aSf large cities has ex-
cited much interest, a&nd the possibility of
utilizing motor vehicfebf In warfare has been
brought forward, not only by novelist in
story issued a week Ago, but in a proposal