The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1913-08-30
BRITISH WHIP AND
THE PART He PLAYS
His Duty to See All Members of
Party Are Present at I'm
portant Divisions.
Must Keep Track of Whereabouts
of Members to Summon Them
in Crises.
Position Arduous, But is Sought by
Wealthiest Men in the British
Empire.

The whip" is an important person.
age in the machinery Of British poll
tics. His duties are vexing, often the
cause OF great mental strain, yet the
position is highly priced and filled by
men with wealth enough to live a life
Of leisure were they to remain on
earth as long as Mathusela. T. p.
oConnor gives an interesting descrip.
tion of the duties and responsibilities
Of the whip in an article in the Chi.
cago Tribune under a London date Of
Aug. 16. He writes:
At the exit door Of the inner lobby
Of the House of Commons there are
two benches and either on or beside
the benches there are the whips. The
whips Of the party In power, of course,
have to be more regular in attend
ance than the whips of the opposition.
The opposition may attend or not; but
the ministerial party has always to
keep it's majority present. because a
defeat in the division may mean the
end Of the ministry.
On Duty Al Hours.
Occasionally, therefore, you see the
bench Of the opposition sveeant: but
never the bench III TIM painiskertsl
party, unless the business before the
house is something in which the min
istry is not interested; and where.
therefore. it does not matter to it in
which lobby the majority finds itself.
The work has to be divided, of course;
one whip takes an hour, then he Is
succeeded by the next, and SO on
throughout all the hours of the day
and night. 1t is exactly like the serv-
ice Of the sentry outside the barrack.
The whip standing there surveys
carefully every member who is leav-
ing the house and never allows one to
pass, If he be supporter of the gov
eminent. without asking him where he
is going, or if he have paired, which,
Of course, makes his absence innocu-
ous by killing a. man and a vote for
the time being on the other side, or
the whip tells the member at what
hours the division is expected and
: begs him to be back not later. The
hour usually mentioned in the big de-
bates is $3.50 and the division usually
takes place between. 10: 80 and IL.
1t will be seen that this is q labori-
GUS and, as have said, almost men,
ial duty; it resembles for all the world
the position of the porter who admits
the visitor into the halls of the great
Why, then. do men take it? And why
men in particular who apparently have
everything the world has to bestow.
Position Hold BY Lords.
have seen the position held by Lord
Derby before he went to the House
Of Lords; and when he was still Lord
Stanley. Lord Derby dates back his
family to distinguished positions TO,
centuries; it figures conspicuously ir
Shakespeare; his old name Of Stanley
10 in the most effective passage o1
| Walter Scott's "Marmion." His pos.
sessions are gigantic: he owns thu
greater part of the land in some Of
the most prosperous towns which
! have grown up in Lancashire. and ye'
he was willing to discharge these
menial duties.
The secret 10 that everybody in Eng
land takes part in politics and prizes
political distinction above all else ir
the world. Unless q man have yer,
conspicuous gifts, he has to ascent
the ladder Of ofncial promotion slow
ly. and usually also has to begin a
the bottom rung. And a whipship u
nearly always the first step on th'
ofhcial ladder.
| There 10 another example at tn
present moment of the extraordinar!
value placed on this humble position
The chief whip Of the tory party Il
Lord Edmond Talbot. He is tn
;, brother of the Duke Of Norfolk. VIII
stands in the first place among tn
English nobility. He is .hereditar'
earl marshal. which means that h
has the right to superintend all tn
Rreaf fu,Ie4,o,,. - .+.+. f,o,, 4ha o<sr.