Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-26

speaker of the house of commons.
James William Lowther, is a Conserv-
ative. He has presided over a Lib
eral parliament for four years, and
because he is speaker the Liberals did
not place a candidate against him.
Imagine the Democrats refusing to
oppose Joseph G.. Cannon because of
courtesy! But of course the British
speaker has no political power.
No Liberal candidate opposed Arthur
James Balfour in the city of London
for the quite sufficient reason that no
one could be found to lead the forlorn
hope. The city of London, which is
small section'of London containing not
more than $4,000 population, the finan-
cial and banking center, is almost
solidly Conservative and no Liberal
candidate would have the ghost of a
show at the polls in the shadow of the
bank of England.
Wherever there was q contest the
speakings and canvassing went ON al
most continuously until the polling
day. The candidate for parliament is
bound to see as many voters as pos
sible and personally to ask for their
votes. This is called canvassing, and
on such trips the candidate is often
accompanied by his wife or sister or
daughters. This takes up all the day.
John Burns of Battersea, in London.
is said to have canvassed personally
almost every voter in mis- borough.
Many of the candidates have quite
wonderful canvassing records. 1t is
literally house-to-house canvass, and
strange as it seems to an American,
the candidate is left entirely free by
hangers-on and workers" while he is
engaged in this business.
AS few of the candidates live in the
constituencies which they represent
(any Englishman may be a candidate
in any county, borough or division that
will accept him) this canvassing is a
necessary part of the business of get
ting acquainted. There is little or no
rivalry for the party nominations and
old members are never disturbed ex-
cept for treachery to the party. The
longer man has been ip parliament
the better his constituents like it-a
fact which has a lesson in it for Amer
leans.
The speakings are conducted along
lines peculiarly English The announce
ment of a speaking by one of the big
guns, Mr.. Balfour or Mr.. Lloyd George,
for instance, will read: doors open at
Z. Sir James Johnson will take the
chair at s. Admission by ticket" Ev-
erybody who wants to go rushes wild
ly to the Office of the election agent in
the constituency, who corresponds to
the American district chairman. Ev-
erybody who calls is given a ticket,
regardless of the seating or standing
capacity of the hall.
When the day of the speaking ar
rives, and usually only two or three
days notice is given, the ticket hold
ers begin to line up at o'clock in the
afternoon. If, for instance, the hall
holds 1900 and 10000 tickets have been
issued, it behooves one to be early on
the ground. A corps of policemen keeps
the crowd in check and lines up the
ticket holders, two and two, for blocks
and blocks. The doors are opened at
Z, according to promise, and the first
1900 get in. Then the police close the
doors and the other $500 people do just
what they knew all the time they would
do-rush for "the vans"
1.-THE Vans" the huge motor vans ar
ranged as speakers platforms and po-
litical circulating libraries. A spell
binder holds forth from one end, and
a librarian distributes leaflets and
posters from the other end.
At one Liberal meeting in London. at
which LloydGeorge was the speaker,
there We're no less than fifteen of these
overflow meetings groupd about as
many vans in the neighborhood of the
hall where the chancellor was speak
ing.
The outdoor speakers, usually mem
bers of parliament and often peers, al
ways begin by inviting the attention
of the hecklers and by promising to
answer any questions which may be
asked by any one in the audience.
1.-The Voice" is not at all backward,
and the van speakers are usually en-
gagged in joint debate with the crowd.
1t is ever so much livelier and more
exciting than the same sort of thing
in America. In recent Years American
political excitement reached it's climax
in the Mckinley Bryan campaign of
1896. Leaving out of the question the
great street parades which were the
feature of that contest. the 1896 Amer
lean campaign was absolutely tame
with this English political
battle. 1t appears that all English
men have political convictions or
and that every one of them
insists upon proclaiming his views
from the stump to the people or from
the audience to the speakers. Nobody
is silent.
TOm0rr0w-Tbe English Elections:
VI-The House of Lords.
----------------------------