The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-06-30
TIRED men RULE
Steady Growth Of I'll Health Among
the English Statesmen At
tracts Notice,
"A Great Many Operations Under
goneThe Interesting Sir
William Arson. 81
BY 7. p. o'connor.

in favor Of a breakup OF parliament by
July and an earlier sitting in winter was
carried by a substantial majority in the
house Of lords.
dous lot OF ynake-believe about the attend
ance in the house of commons Tho the
house of commons is norninal1y In full
session during the dcg-days, and tho
every member is theoretically in attend
ance, the real truth is that there is, moth
ing left but a miserable fraction Of the
house, that vast number Of members
have betaken themselves to the seaside,
to the mountains, to the foreign spa
They, Of course, have to keep in touch
with their whips, and are liable to be
called back.
In the dog-day period, no member ap-
pears on the floor Of the house ITSELF I'M
less he is called there by urgent business.
The legislator spends most Of his time
on the terrace, smoking, eating straw
berries and cream drinking tea or lemon
squash, and when o'clock comes, en-
pertaining his friends
OF course the remedy for all this scan
dal-for it is little less than a scandal
lies in the direction to which Sir Newton
points. Winter is the natural period for
hard work.
One Of the things which will certainly
bring about change in the present hours
and habits Of parliament Is the steady
growth Of ill-health among legislators. If
you count them up you will find what a
startling number Of casualties there have
been even during the last few weeks.
Sir William Harcourt, Akers Douglas,
Mr.. BoulnOts, Mr.. Plummer have all I'M
dergone operations; Sir Howard Vincent
has been at deaths door; Gerald Balfour
Is threatened with an operation; Mr..
Wyndham has had influenza twice; Rob
arf SyA Se II. -
away for a couple Of months; William
O'Brien was down with influenza and
was barely able to drag himself from
London to his home in the far west Of
Ireland Immediately after the second read
ing Of the land bill.
At this moment Mr.. Asquith is suffering
from a temporary loss of voice. Lord
Hugh Cecil is taking little part in the
debate on the. London education bill be-
cause he is not equal to the double strain
OF the grand committee on the deceased
wife's sister bill, and also the work in
the evening Of the house Of commons.
Coming to the leading ministers, Mr.
Chamberlain certainly can not be in good
form have always thought, when have
heard him speak since his return from
South Africa, that his voice was the voice
OF jaded man; and tho his wonderful vi
tality and equability Of spirits keep him
up, he does not look the man he once was
The other day, when he was ferociously
attacked by Lloyd George, he seemed to
me to turn all theh ues of the rainbow,
which is not usual with a man Of his
great self-control
Mr.. Balfour's extra ordinary action in
reference to the education bill can only
be accounted for by the theory that he
also Is tagged out. Never did bill re-
Quire more careful handling; never, there
fore, did bill stand more in need Of q
skilful, trained and powerful parliament
tartan. Oh
The measure was left entirely in the
hands Of Sir William Arson . Sir William
Ansdn Is to me one Of the most attractive
men In the house Of commons. Before he
| came to parliament he was, as everybody
knows, one of the most distinguished dons
Of the University Of Oxford. Indeed, he
had got almost everything that great seat
of learning could bestow upon man.
He has a mind very clear, very dispas-
| sionate, very erudite. He Is, too, one OF
the men who are in political life from NO
necessity, and with no particular personal
ambition. A bachelor, a baronet, a man
of large property, he might very well
take his ease. In person he is: the quiet
| and secluded scholar to the life. Small
OF stature, thin, and almost fragile in
frame, with thin, clear-cut face that
| might, indeed, with a little less coloring
be the face of an abbot Of very ascetic
| order, he seems curious figure that has
| accidentally strayed into a body of such
strenuous, robust, pushful men as make
the majority Of an assembly of fighting
politicians. He is quite the same In his
manner.
| However the storm may rage around
| him, whatever hard epithets be flung al
his head, however much the tide may be
running against him, he rises UP, and
with the same perfect serenity. Of voice
in the same low, even gentle voice, with
the same pellucid language and close
| logic, he defends his position.
/ In ordinary times this would be ex.
cellent, and also with an ordinary bill
But the vice Of the situation on the Lon.
| don education bill was that the gentle
men behind Sir William Arson were
| hopelessly divided. One set of Londor
members were all for the borough coun
| ctls-they were not the more intellieen
and progressive, but they were the NOR,
numerous section; on the other side, al
the men pf progress and intellectual
| power-Lord Hugh Cecil, Mr. whitnore
/ Mr.. Peel, w. F. D. Smith-were for tn,
county council.
] Here, then, were all the currents am
cross currents, the eddies and shallow.
and hidden rocks, that required such :
4 steersman as knew his business and
could manage to keep off Charybdis with
out humping on to Scylla. No man coul(
! have met such a situation with greater
GOODNESS and skill than Mr. Balfour: In
deed, he rejoices and is at his best /,
such a situation. But Mr.. Balfour KEEP
1 steadily out of the house, and twice in {
week almost risked thereby his own fat,
! and the fate OF his governrnen
Would you know the moral? I lay,
written 1t often; | shall keep writing i
until some day the whole world vii
stop and listen. This empire is governed
/ by tired men.
"A WHOLE ORCHESTRA.
i Baltimore News
/ Yes, Jinks Is putting in great deal O
| time with his musical instruments.
Musical instruments? didn't know ht
played
He doesn't. refer to his teethins
twins