Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-25

him. The speaker OF the House OF Com
mons, James william Lowther. IL a con-
servative. He has presided over a liberal
Parliament for four years, and because he
is speaker the liberals did not place a
candidate against him. Imagine the demo-
Gratis refusing to oppose Mr.. Joseph Cannon
because Of courtesyl But Of course the
British speaker has no political power
No liberal candidate opposed Mr.. 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 SEQ
tion Of London. containing not more than
$1,000 population, the financial 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. oto-
Wherever there was a contest the speak
ing and canvasslng went on almost con-
tinuously until the polling day. The candi-
date for Parliament Is bound to see as
many voters as possible, and personally to
ask for their votes. This Is called canvass
ing, and on such trips the candidate is
often accompanied by his wife, or sister,
or daughter. This takes up all the day.
John Burns OF Battersea, in London is
said to have canvassed personally almost
, every voter In his borough Many OF the
candidates have quite wonderful canvassina
records. 1t is literally a house house
canvass, and, strange as Il 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 con-
stituencies which they represent (any Eng
lishman may be a candidate In any county.
borough or division which will ACCEPT hin).
this canvassing Is necessary part of the
business of getting acquainted. There is lit
tie or no rivalry for the party nominations.
and old members are never disturbed ex-
eept for treachery to the party. The longer
a man has been in Parliament the better
his constituents like n--a fact which has a
lesson in 1t for Americans.
The speakings are conducted along lines
peculiarly English. The announcement OF
speaking By one OF the big guns, Mr.
Balfour or Mr.. Lloyd-George, for instance,
viii read: Doors open at T. Sir James
johnson will take the chair at 8. Adnis-
sion by ticket" Everybody who wants to
go rushes wildly to the office of the elec-
tion agent In the constituency, who cor
responds to the American district chairman.
Everybody who calls is given ticket, re-
gardless Of the seating or standing capac-
ity of the hall.
When the day OF the speaking arrives,
and usually only two or three days notice
is given, the ticket holders begin to line
up at o'clock in the afternoon. II, for
instance, the hall holds L5OO ana 10000
tickets have been isued, It behooves one to
be carly on the ground. A corps of police
men keeps the crowd in check and lines up
the Ticket hOldara fxuo ND at.yo far
D and blocks. The doors are opened at 4.
according to promise. and the first 1,5O0
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"
'"The vans" are huge motor vans ar
ranged as speakers platforms and political
circulating libraries. A spellbinder holds
forth from one end, and librarian dis
tributes leaflets and miniature posters
from the other end. At one liberal meet
ing in London at which Lloyd George was
the speaker there were no less than fifteen
of these overflow meetings grouped about
as many vans in the neighborhood OF the
hall where the chancellor was speaking.
The outdoor speakers usually members
Of Parliament and often peers, always be-
gin ny inviting Ine aLIentlOn or pne heck
lers and by promising to answer any ques-
tions which may be asked by any one in
the audience. The Voice" is not at all
backward, and the van speakers are US
ually engaged in a 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 po-
litical 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 American campaign was absolutely
tame compared with this English political
battle. 1t appears that all Englishmen
have political convictions or prejudices
and that every one of them insists upon
proclalming his views from the stump to
, the people or from the audience to the
speakers. Nobody is silent
TOMORROW -THE ENaLIsR ELEC-
T1ONS.
vI-The House Of Lords.
man in the Third ward against Councilman