The Irish standard., 1910-04-30
brought down the House.

On the English side we might pit
r. E. Smith as being analogous to Ket-
tie on the Irish. F. E. Smith is
young barrister from Liverpool, of
about 80 years of age; TALL we'll made.
clean shaven, spic and span. But,
whereas geniality marks the outward
man in Kettle, F. f. Smith, like many
Englishmen, rather does himself an
injustice by an Eton- cum Oxford man
ner, all starched with snobbishness.
His voice is rasping, his style taunt-
ing; but he is true fighter, and,
standing there, with the boyish figure
and insolent expression. he hit at the
government, reaching unerringly all the
weak spots that their pusillanimity
had laid open to him. He scoffed at
the idea of their being revolutionaries.
Look at them," he said, with their
respectable, even. benignant, counte-
nances! They look more fitted for
pleasant Sunday afternoons than for
a committee of public safety"
The governments veto bill will en-
body the provision that if measure
be passed three times by the House
of Commons it shall become law, de-
spite the Lords. +. E. Smith seized on
this point and made great play of the
faulty of saying the same thing over
three times in order to make it valid.
1.-THE government thinks" he remarked
scornfully, that if they add obstinacy
to error they obtain truth"
Though I did not like the trend of
F. E. Smiths speech, ] was delighted
with him as a fighter, and when he
sat down sent him little note to
say so. These are among the antilles
of political life as understood in the
Commons. Subsequently Winston
Churchill, who is the representative
fighter on the governments benches
referred to +. E. Smiths poisonous
and powerful speech
Amongst the new lights is typical
English lawyer; Of hopeful quality
Steel Maitland, TALL, straight, slight
but athletic looking, with keen fea'
lures and precise but trenchan
style, Steel Maitland made his mari
with his maiden speech. The latel
generation of Englishmen are throw
solemn dignity which used to bt
thought the mark of statesman, ant
Steel Maitland enlivened his speeccl
with references to aMendel's studies o
Heredity, instanced' by Rostand''
Chantecler. Steel-Maitland will go far
Then there is the famous Tommy
Bowles, who has come back to lif'
again. Tommy Bowles was formerl!
a Conservative member, but he is {
stanch free trader and so he sacri
feed his seat to his convictions. The1
he became Liberal, or rather took OF
a veneer which passed muster in tn
Conservative ranks Of so-called Liber
alism in England. But these are th'
trimmings of Tommy Bowles. HI
stands about feet 4 inches in height
but every inch Il gentleman. With
big mustache, if he looked more thar
eight stone, one might say he had :
heavy dragon manner. He is an epi
tome of audacity, but at times, i
might be thought, no man ever was a
dignified as Tommy Bowles looks. Hi
sallies are unexpected and amusing
On one occasion he pointed his finge
at the front opposition bench, wher
three ex-minsters were sitting. "Lool
at Them" he said, like three plaste
casts of the cardinal virtues
The House laughed and someone re
marked that there were seven cardi
nal virtues. Now, Tommy BoWles, lik
an old campagner, was probably ex
pecting this, for he rejoined imme
diately: Eyes, but four are absent
and amongst them Faith Hope an
Charity