The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-09

There is only one man in Eng
- land who has the right, should
his own carriage or auto happen to
break down, to turn any other person
out of his carriage or other convey
ance and take the latter's place and
that is the speaker of the house Of
commons. There are only two men In
4 this country whose invitations to din
ner constitute a commando disobey
which is to risk all sorts of pains and
penaIties-one of these being the King
and the other the puissant speaker of
the house of commons again, who also
has the proud title of first commoner
in the realm and exercises a despotic
power unequalled. so 1t is said, by any
other chairman in the world
The present holder of this office, the
Right Hon. J. w. Lowther, is per-
haps more in the public eye at the mo-
ment than any other man in England,
his recent decision regarding the liberal
governments long promised franchise
bill having provided the sensation of
the parliamentary year. AS a result of
it this bill. which was designed to
grant. for the first time almost uni
has been shelved indefinitely and in
cidentally settlement of the women's
suffrage question In England has been
postponed for months and perhaps
years. Probably at no time during his
20 years in the house of commons has
the many-sided man and all around
athlete who. clad in solemn robes and
a wig, presides over the deliberations
of that body, found himself so squarely
in the Iimelight and never. incidental
ly, has he stood so good a chance of
being assaulted as he does at present
at the hands of the infuriated women
whose long matured plans he has up
set at the eleventh hour If he is not
strongly guarded, nowadays when he
leaves his official residence I'm the pal
ace of Westminster on horseback to
take his regular morning canter in the
Row" then Scotland yard is neglect
ing it's duty. Meanwhile Lowther has
just been attacked bitterly by George
Bernard Shaw. who accuses him of
gross partiality."
Being Speaker of the house of COM
mons is no snap. however you look
at IT, but the rewards are many and
various, likewise a bit funny. To be-
gin with, there is the excessive dig
nifty, for as first commoner In the
realm Mr.. Speaker takes precedence
of the entire nobility in state process
sions, coming, in fact, directly after the
archbishops who, in their turn, are
preceded only by royalty. At the end
of his term of office, moreover, he in
variably is elevated to the peerage,
usually with the title of viscount, and
draws a fat pension for the remainder
of his days. His official salary Is $25,-
600 a year, which is not bad consider
Ing that he lives rent free in the pal
ace of Westminster during his term
of office. to say nothing of being pro-
vided with a gorgeous state coach. The
possession of this ornate vehicle, how
ever, is a mixed blessing, the speak
er's coach" being an antiquated, lum-
bering contraption which, as like as
not, would break down did Mr. Low
ther entrust himself to 1t Ca thing
which he has not done since 1t came
into his possession). thereby enabling
him to utilize his legendary privilege
of ousting whomsoever he likes from
his carriage and ensconcing himself
therein. They say that when Lowther's
predecessor in Aoffice, Speaker Gully,
the diamond jubilee, a couple of big
dray horses found it all they could do
to drag the crealxing and swaying We
hicle and everybody was intensely re-
1ieved when it's occupants who in
cluded, besides the speaker, his chap
lain and private secretary, and the SER
geant at arms of the house of COM
mons, got back with whole skins from
their brief excursion from New Palace
Yard to Buckingham palace.
The "perquisites" mentioned above
are only few. however, of those en-
Joyed by the speaker. On being APP
pointed to the chair a generous nation
awards him $4,000 as equipment
money" and he receives an allowance
of 1000 ounces of plate" and $500
to keep him Stationery" which must
be ample unless he writes more let
ters than even Mayor Gaynor. Another
queer graft" he enjoys is an annual
gift of two hogsheads of claret wine
and a buck and a doe killed in the
royal reserves at Windsor also are sent
to him every year Again, at Christ
mas time the speakers heart is glad
dened by the Clothmaker's company
Cone of the ancient guilds" of the city
of London), which solemnly presents
him with a generous length of the
best broadcIoth made in England.
Perhaps all these emoluments compen-
and occasionally being made to look and
feel fool, and perhaps they don't As
presiding officer of the house Of commons
he is the king pin Of the elaborate sys-
tenn of tomfoolery which tends to make
what is usually described as the most
dignified legislative assembly in the world
actually one of the most ridiculous. He
has between 500 and 600 cast iron rules to
remember and enforce, and a large per-
centage of them are the sheerest absurdi-
ty, admirably fitted for a comic opera,
but ludicrously out of place in the legis-
lative machinery of the greatest empire in
history. Any nation but England would
have 'scrapped' the bulk of them CEN
fury or more ago, but, as everybody
knows, tradition dies harder here than
perhaps anywhere else on earth.
It Is the speaker VINO has to call an
memorable member to order should he
commit the heinous offense of proposing
m amendment to a bill while standing.
bareheaded Gas common sense would sug-
gest), instead Of seated with either his
own or somebody elses hat on, as is sol
emnly laid down in the rules of procedure.
There are about 100 more rules about
leadgear in the house of commons (whose
members, of course, sit with their hats
onl and each of them must be enforced
vigorously by the speaker else there will
be frantic yells of "Ordah! Ordah!' from
ali the old parliamentary fossils on each
side of the chamber to whom usage is
as the breath of life.
Likewise the speaker must rebuke the
members of the house, who, in the excite
ment of speaking, ventures to remove