The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1907-07-06
pARL1AMENr's PRESS GALLERY.
,ur,ou. Rules That Deprive Live and

wonder is that any hint OF the fact
reaches the outside public. There is
press gallery in the House Of Com
mons, it is true, but this Is hedged
around with long leagues of the hard
est sort Of glazed and starched red
tape, and the man who has charge OF
this ancient haberdashery stock is an
old world, gray bearded, dress sword
ed official called the sergeant-at-arms.
He is an extremely courteous and
dignifed gentleman and would not
speak an unkind word for worlds, but
in his management Of the press gall
lery of the House of Commons, he
carries out in this alleged twentieth
century an archaic policy that would
have harmoniZed nicely with the days
of Queen Anne. When the British
public reads about the doings Of the
House of Commons it little thinks that
the great orations and sttgring de-
bates of the Mother Of Parliaments are
in large degree conveyed. to people
only by subterfuges.
Many important daily papers with
enormous circulations, such us .he
Daily Mail, Daily Express, Manchester
Dispatch and the Newcastle Evening
Chronicle, which reach more people
daily than do many dozens Of the old
er papers put together, cannot set a
pass for one of their reporters To the
press gallery of the British Par!ia-
ment. without a pass signed by the
sergeant-at-arms none may enter The
gallery.
For long time the Daily Mail with
its great circulation, got its sketch
writer into the gallery by the accident
of the Harmsworths happening u dwn
the Evening News. The Evening
News, with little more than London
circulation, and rarely even 50 much
as a mention of Parliament, happened
to have been established good many
years, so the sergeant-at-arlns admit
ted it's existence.
Therefore the Evening News could
admitting it's reporter into the House
Of Commons, while the Daily Mail
one of the really national papers, the
paper with the largest circulation in
the kingdom, could not. The IRONY of
it is that the big paper was able to
get ma1 Of tx own into tns press
gallery because its ,, oprietors happan-
ed some years beio.e 10 have bought
up the Evening News while the bail
ifs were at the door. In ota9r words
1t does not matter how neaf the now
fiourishing .Ivsltdg News was to
death some years ago it could boast
the glory If the entree to the houses
of Parliament, and 1t does nat matter
how enormously another paper HI j
caught its mold u.on the puoiio, 1t was
powerless 70 get IN.
Some of the really big papers are thus
able to smuegle their men in by call :
ing them the RI :esentatives of little
papers. Not that the sergcant-at-
arms is given to ftvoritlsm. In his
way he has great sense Of fairness
and consider It'll N for others.
1t issvery much the sort of consid-
Grafton the chief clerk in busy city
counting house would have for others
liz he still refused to know that the
times had moved on so fast that can
dies had been superseded by gas and
gas by electricity, and still insisted on
sticking to the miserable light of the
old farthing dip. The last occasion on
which anything like a revision Of the
list of admissions to the press gallery
of the British Parliament was made
in the early sos, and since then nothing
has been done in the way of compre-
hensive overhauling, although the
newspaper world has changed so es-
EsenEially.
Joseph Chamberlain addressing the
Bennington Press club some time ago
said there was nothing that the press
of Great Britain could desire that it
could not get, if only it were united
in its demand. If the whole British
press united it could get the sergeant
alarms arrangement of the micro
scopic space in the press gallery Of the
houses of Parliament brought right
out of the present seventh century
style and set on a modern basis. 1t
might be within the realms of posi-
bility even to get the space enlarged.
When a paper with a vast circula-
ton and no antiquity comes to the SER
geant-at-ar and Graves permission
for one Of its own reporters to enter
the press gallery that grave and
courteous dignitary, armed with a
suave manner and a dress sword, has
always one reply, mo ROOM" The
space is only SO much, he says, and it
is really overcrowded.
All this is true. There are only two
rows Of seats. The front row is form
err by a little more than dozen box
es, each box holding one man. The
back row consists of long strip of
board about a foot wide, and here,
punched UP like sardlnes in a box,
most of the sketch writers work.
If they strain their necks and run a
risk of being called to order by a SOL
emn attendant for leaning over, the
men in the back row can get glimpse
OF most of the members of the govern
ment and of the leaders of the oppo-
stion. If they behave themselves and
do not lean over, they can get good
view of the Irish nationalist, the la
Dor party and much of the rank and
file of the two main parties,
The men ia the front row of boxes can
see and hear well. These boxes for the
most part are occupied by the short
hand writer's, who take short turns, B
arriving and tapping A on the should
err when AS haf-hour of taking
is ended, B stepping into the box as A
steps out. Here work the corps Of
turn-takers employed by the Times.
the Daily Telegraph and other dailies
Ta,, v,ouyo o,l d.