Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-07-18


When the speaker leaves the house
1t is carried in front of him. as when
he enters. II he retires from the
chair the mace Is removed from the
rack in which 1t stands. and while
| the house is committee of the whcle
4 is laid to rest in the Office of the SER
geant-of-arms.
The train OF the speakers robe Is
borne by two pages. and he is follow
ed by the chaplain of the house in
full canonicales. by the chief clerk and
his assistant in wigs robes and liver
les When the speaker reaches the
chair, and the other officials are in
their proper places. the chaplain ad-
vances. the members all rise and the
following prayer, which has been in
use for 500 years, is read:
Almighty God. by whom alone
kings reign and princes decree justice,
wisdom and understanding, we Thine
unworthy servants. here gathered to-
gether in Thy name. do most humbly
beseech Thee to send down Thy heav-
enly wisdom from above, to direct and
guide us in all our consultations; and
grant that. we having thy fear always
before our eyes, and laying aside all
private interests. prejudices and par
tial affections the result of all our
counsels may be to the glory of Thy
blessed name. the maintenance of true
religion and Justice, the safety. honor
and happiness of the king, the pub
lie wealth, peace and tranquility Of
the realm. and the uniting and knitting
together of the hearts of all persons
and estates within the same. in true
Christian love and charity one to-
wards another. through Jesus Christ
our Lord and Savior. Amen"
The speaker of the house is an a,i-
tocrat He is supposed to be impair
tial and to protect the rights of the
minority and there is no appeal from
his decisions. He is elected at the he
ginning of each session. and can be re-
moved and another SUBSTITUTED In his
place at any time by vote of the
house. This has been done on sew
eral occasions, but as long as he liz
in the chair his power is absolute.
He can terminate debate: he can
recognize whomsoever he pleases; he
can refuse to consider propositions;
he can stop a member in the midst
of a speech and can do anything else
which In his Judgment is necessary to
promote the business of the nation
| and the order and discipline of the
commons. That is his responsible
ty. and he exercises it to his best
| judgment and sense of justice. II he
errs. he must suffer the penalty. but
there is none to question or dispute
his authority as long as he is in the
chair.
With this extraordinary power of
course there are some drawbacks.
The speaker of the house of commons
cannot delegate his authority He
must Away be preent during the pro-
ceedings and preside, except when
rthe house is in committee of the whole
Then he may retire for the time be-
ing. but cannot leave the building
He must always be within call so that
he may resume the chair at mo-
ments notice. He has magnificent
apartments in the parliament house.
which are known as the Speakers
palace"--a suite of between 80 and
40 rooms sumptuously furnished
He receives a salary of $25.000. and
the most of it is required to main
tain the expense of his establishment.
He pays all his servants and has to
entertain great deal. Theoretic-
ally the palace and the salary he re-
ceiyes are for that purpose When
he retres he Is usually elevated to
the peerage and voted a pension for
life.