The sun., 1908-06-28
III YHE CANADIAN COMMONS
MOST or THE LEGIsLATIEA
WORR DOVE Ar NT0HT.

|
| 3. s--s-------- ~ 4
| And Freauently the Dssfsien Comes -
| pusn--sgsro Csremony Than &C Waena
tngtsn -EaSw Speeohcs Are Rrsecrvess
!. for Hene Csnsnmutien-Hnu WeRns
Buslnsss In the Canadian Psrliamsns 4
transactbd solemnly 90 . rule. skhorG4
! occasionally the democratic spirit. whion q
much the sauna. over the border 40 IL 10 hGsI
win have its!way.
Canada coca early to bed. THAT b z
| general assertion OF fact whsoh mas ~
/ more exceptions than ars necessary 20 prove
| the rule But tho Canadian Houso Of Ccspl
mona tranaaots most Of its regular bnssa
ness In night. Sessions.
| An all night session OF Congress - an
event. The hlibuster which Senator Ia
| Follette Of wisoonsin led against tho erners
aency currency bill at the session recsnfly
closed required an all night session TO brssf
Il up. It was unusual enough 70 demand
extended accounts In the newspapers. In
Canada an all night Legislative session b
| frequent occurrence. a,
Can you imagine Unole Joe Cannoh In
! black silk gown and cooked hat sdvancinq
| 10 the Speakers chair at the beginning o1
each days session Of the House Of hepGe-
sentatiyes, with his dignity further smphoi
sized by gold laced fancttonary preosd-
ins him and bearing Q sword and . macet
Such forInaIlty ,as there y sits hksomnH
upon him. Yet the Speaker Of the Canaduna
House opens tho session at p. y. eAcn
parliamentary day with sl1 that formaheY
and more. yats. ,
The Speaker reads prayers. The chep-
lains Of Congress have been known 70 tns
clude political oratory In their invocetions.
There is this similarity between tho Anert"
lean House and the Canadian-most Of tho
members come In after the prayer. "a
In the House Of Representatives the ssats
are arranged In q semicircle % that all the
members face the Speaker. and incidentally
the press gallery. The opposing Canadian
parties face each other acroas ganGway.
40 IL the case In the British Commons. But
the Canadians have improved on the Britain
custom as far as comfort goes, for each
member has little desk and q comfortable
chair Of his own.
Much Of the real work of the Canadian
House in whipping Legislation into shape
is done In committees which meet In tho
morning. Washington and not London ID
copied to that extent. The full SESSIONS ax'e
taken up mostly with necessary routine
and with speeches.
II you are q Canadian M. p. you may
wear. your Int or not as you please while
sitting at your desk in the chamber. But
when you enter or leave you must NOT
fail to bow to the Speaker. Furthermore.
etiquette demands that il you move from
your place, even across a narrow aisle TO
your neighbor's desk, it must be done
With head uncovered HE-
The hall OF the Canadian House Of Com
mons is large and airy. There are capacious
galleries, and above these many stu ned
glass windows Of cathedral style.
speeches not 60 much tn affect the issaa
before the House as for home consumption
is fulfilled In Canada by the Hansard Re-
ports. They answer about the same pur-
poses as the Conaressiondt Record The
institute on. The Haneards since Luke
nansard became printer to the Britain
House Of Commons In 1860 have s.esSe :
speciality OF publishing the reports Of
Parliament.
In England, curioualy, the Hansard Re-,
ports are not taken in shorthand. but aYe'
compiled from the careful and voluminous
newspaper reports. Then, before pub
fishing, the speeches are subInttted 10
It is a very pleasant caston--sor tho
speakers. For they may insert things they
, intended to say or wished they had said,
and may eliminate or tone down passages
The doingr of the Canadian House are all
taken down In shorthand by the Hansard
reporters The reporters have seats in
the gangway below the Speaker's dais.
As in England, members who mako speeohes
anS as' i o ssS then to II sss
while a session IL on carefully editing for
their constituents the remarks they made
tho previous day.
Tke Canadian n. P; nast speak his p.scs
IT, get i s.nss :sr s /. sna IL :.sn
members get "leave to print In the! Con.
gress,ona! Record, and in that way yards and
yards Of good political matter y preserved.
TO be sent later. postage Tree. through tho
mails.
The Canadian Commons wouldn't need
to sit all night very often II It were not for
the food OF oratory that 10 to be -embalmed
In Hansard,' as the saying goes. AZ it 10.
the gray light Of dawn will filter frequsntly
a member pouring forth words to an audi
ence Of pages sleeping soundly on tho
you are In Ottawa, the Canadian capital.
twinkling from the Flagstaff on the tower
Of the Houses Of Parliament you will know
that the Commons ls in session.
When debate ends and the time for q
division has come, be 1t early evening or
at dawn. there is great oommotion at once.
Bells ring simultaneously throughout the
building.
The members troop In from eyerY side.
There 10 few minutes Of disorder Menu
bers play pranks on each other, and popular
airs are surg. Then the party whips enter,
indicating that the opposing forces have
been collected, and ali Is deoorum.
The Commons isn't the whole Govern
ment, but nearly 90. There IL an upper
house, or Senate, which is about as useful
as the House Of Lords. The Senators are
appointed for life by the Governor General.
The fight is all In the Commons. The
Prime Minister who leads In person the
party In power In the House OF { ommons,
is by all odds the most important member
OF the Government, the Governor General,
appointed by ne Crown, not excepted.
The British system 10 carried out thoroughly.
The M. P.'s are. elected every FIVE yolrs,
Their umber varies. The Province OF
Quebec must always have sixty We mer,-
bers. and the other provinces have "a many
members In proportion to their population
as the sixty-flve bear to the population, Of
Canada had a population of s,s3i sis In
1901, nearly 2.000,0 600 less than that OF the
State OF New York. In fact there are more
people within twenty-five miles Of New
York city than IN all Canada. Yet the
Parliament n ntfa In rok =, ..ai.