The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-01-30

parliamentary life or. that his bus
 mess requires his undivided atten-
 rion. and he consequently with
 draws. Technically no member of parliament is allowed to resign, but the
 difficulty is got over by a technical de-
 vice. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
 has in his gift the stewardship of the
 Chiltern Hundreds--the stewardship of
 the Manors of Northstead is some
 times used for the same purpose-which
 is an office of profit under the Crown ?
 and therefore cannot be held in con- junction with a palce in parliament.
 This office, whose duties are naught
 and profits infinitestimal, is granted on
 application to any member of parlia-
 ment who wishes to retire, and is sur rendered by him the next day in order
 that 1t may perform the same service to the next member who may need it. Further gaps are made in the House | Of Commons every year by elevations tc the House of Lords. Both in the New Year honors" and the 'birthday honors" it is seldom that the list of new peers does not contain the name Of some one who has already won more or less political distinction in the lower house. More changes still are caused by the succession to peerages through deaths of peers. At the present mo-
 ment the House of Commons contains twenty-five persons, any one of whom would be compelled to leave the House
 on the death of the present holder of
 the title to which he is the heir appar- ent. A case in point was the bye
 election at Rochester in consequence of the death of the Marquis of Sails
 bury.
 Mention has already been made of
 the fact that the acceptance by an M.
 F. of an office Of, profit under the
 Crown renders his seat vacant. This
 rule appears especially to effect law
 yers. The English parliament affords
 tempting prospects of distinction to a
 considerable proportion of the ablest
 pointments to judgeship and various
 legal posts of importance in the United
 Kingdom, in India and in the Colonies
 have an even greater attraction. and
 accordingly cause frequent changes in personnel.
 One peculiarity in the operation of
 this rule demands special attention. namely, it's bearing upon the compost ton of the Cabinet For a member of the House of Commons the acceptance of any one of the leading posts in the Government-the minor offices, such as the secretaryship to the Treasury. are not held direct from the Crown and are therefore unaffected-compels the immediate resignation of his seat but does not deprive him of the opportu- nity of reelection. Down to a conpar- atlvely recent date such resignation was required when Cabinet Minister was transferred from one post to an- other, but now only new appointments are within the scope of the rule.
 There was a time-the good old days of Walpole, for instance-when the ob- ilgation of a newly made Cabinet Min lster to obtain renewal of confidence rom his constituents was based on a very substantial reason, for a Prime Minister could sometimes detach a powerful critic from the Opposition benches by the bribe of a Cabinet seat.
 A few other causes of bye elections may be briefly grouped together. sometimes an M. F. changes his views, ana, as in honor bound, submits him. self afresh to the decision of his con stltuents In such cases he usually re- talns his seat. until the next general election at least even though he may not receive the support of the official organization of the side to which he transfer his allegiance. In certain cases bankruptcy disqualifies for fur ther membership, as does proved lun- acy. Conviction for serious criminal offence is followed by expulsion.
 Whenever a vacancy occurs during the actual session of parliament. from whatever cause, a bye election is or dered by vote of the House. writ" tor that purpose being moved for. Dur l ing the recess the Speaker issues a sim l liar writ on the production of certifi- [ cate signed by two members, calling his attention to the vacancy with the | exception that writs caused by the ac- ,eptance of the Chiltern Hundreds are ssued only while parliament is sitting. | Accordingly there is nearly always some bye election in prospect all the | year round. And, however unimpor- | ,ant the constituency in itself, or how ever undistinguished the candidates, he interest in the struggle in national |
 Each party supplements local talent oy lending the oratorical assistance of | number of it's ablest speakers. When bye election takes place in division 'f London or of any other large city, much help is given from outside in the way of canvasses also, and in the loan 'f carriages to take voters to the polls. The party leaders, though rarely inter- Eening in person, address to their own 'andldates open letters, which are practically brief manifestos. On the morning the election. though the dis uroed district may be as far away as the first editorial in almost r very London papers will include an xhortation to the electors to remenn- 'er that the eye of England is upon hem and that the fate of the Empire L nay depend upon their ballots. Not nly Tn the clubs, but in the streets in ront of the newspaper offices the pub lcation of the result is awaited with K cen interest.-From the Boston Tran cript. h