New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-24

40 NOT say the House of Commons.
r,hov say the House. Still more do It's
-,o,,,hers. With them the aooreviatioh
term Of endearment. They use IL
..,o,atelv. as II IL were the only
-, In the world: or in the British
1-,,,ire. which is a very considerable
-, 90 the world. The best OF them
- with pride and by way Of dis
Hnguishing this from all other actuai
noss,ble Houses: IL am a House OF
ca,onons Man" Mr.. Balfour said tha''
time when the House was under
Ind He repealed the notion OF the
loud: affirming That the House was as
,a as ever. He spoke from an i'm
,,r,ss OF loyalty to the great Assembly
- uh,ch he had been n member and an
orrament for nearly forty years.
40 NO, think he then carried public
..i,,on with him. II was felt that the
character and composition Of the House
he'd been changed. and not for the bet
-, The inroads of Democracy had not
10, Altogether helpful or auspiclous'
1,hera were people living who could re-
member It when Peel led it, when Pai-
,,arston led It, 1t was still in those
rro,, davs. though the Reform Bill OF
,sao had opened II to the middle classes
., aristocratic body; and it was then
,,hst Burke called it in his time, quite
,-,,lv q true representative of the ma
,ion The spirit Of the nation was
.nera Its members were, in great part,
gentlemen, and TO represent the nation
,r,,lv was with them an obligation OF
honor. Public opinion had many ways
NJ expressing itself, and / doubt wheth-
er il was less potent than now. when all
sections and classes Of the many-head-
ed multitude send accredited delegates
10 this Chamber.
Mr.. Bright once said:
81 do not speak for the governing
classes. but for what is called the MD
die class. and not. if can help 1t, even
for the middle class. My voice is FOR
the people. But l must admit that
the House has always owed, and still
owes. much to the classes whose politi-
cal monopoly I have always striyen TO
overthrow"
Through the spacious days Of Mr..
Gladstone and of Mr.. Disraeli the GA
spirit prevailed. Perhaps it never was
more complete than during the brie-
reriod when Lord Randolph Churchill,
consummate parliamentarian, led the
House. Irish obstruction had been
RAMPANT long before that, but the
temper Of the majority had not been
shaken by those outbursts. Good man.
ners were still the ruler Party spirit
ran high, but patriotism ran higher
still. Civic duty was still the main
spring Of political faith and political
action.
What the House has been since first
Disraeu and then Gladstone departed,
no man living knows so well as Mt
Balfour. He led it in 1891 and 1892;
he led the opposition in 1892 to 1880
then from 1895 to 1906 was First Lore
Of the Treasury and Leader of th'
House. OF the really eminent members
he is the senior. His service has beer
nearly ten years longer than Mr.
Asquith's, his one rival. 1t is he, Mr.
Balfour, who was bred amid the great
traditions. 1t is he who hands on the
torch.
] dwell on that for a moment be-
cause of his testimony above cited, and
because you cannot, at a distance
rightly estimate the condition and
character Of the House otherwise than
by the testimony of competent OBJ
servers. When, as Leader of the
House, he had to pronounce his eulogy
on Mr.. Gladstone, at his death in 1898
he described him as the greatest mem
Der Of the greatest deliberative as
sembly that the world has seen" 1t is,
perhaps. a disputable point. The same
thing was said long before Of Sir Rob
ert Peel. 1t was said in substance of
Disraeh. 1t was said Of Lord Ran
dolph Churchill-at least as Leader
by no less an authority than Mr.,
Charles Nilliers, one of the Corn Law
Repeal Triumvirate. and its Oldest
member. And again and again 1 have
heard good judges declare that LORD
Palnerston's Don Pacifico speech was
the greatest speech ever delivered in
the House; which, since debate is, OF
was. one Of its chief glories, comes &c
much the same thing.
But this is not an historical survey
far from it. 1 had it in mind when
began TO comment on the House as il
exists to-day. i am not very gooC
judge, for in these later days l almost
never go there. But in times past
saw so much OF il that the scene i.
always before my eyes. You can never
forget what the House is like when you
have seen II even once. When you have
seen il on a great night, the impression
sinks into your soul. I saw many such
l have seen. Of course. the Senate anC
House OF Representatives in Washing
ton, and earlier than that the State
Legislature of Massachusetts; always O
distinguished body. These / leave &c
stand by themselves OF his own land
an American cannot be an impartial
critic; II he we're he would be told he
was not a good American. But / have