The New York herald., 1920-01-04
'N|CKNAMES' OF
BRITISH M.P.'S
BADGES OF HONOR
Gladstone's Son Known as
"Tuppence" and Lloyd
George as 81. G."
By +. p. O'cONNOR.

! By T. p. O'CoNNOR.
[Special Despatch to the Hcrold. Copy
right, 1920, by the Philadelphia Public
Ledger Co. Az Rights Rescroed.]
LONDON. Dec. II.
It is rather a distinction in the House OF
Commons to have more nicknames than
any other member. for the House has an
extraordinary love for clubbing manor
"A party-with a nickname. Nobody knows
how these nicknames arise, and they pass
INTO the vernacular of the smoke rooms
with extraordinary rapidity. In my young
days Sir Stafford Northcote. the Tory
leader. who had long beard, was always
known as 1.-The Goat" and Sir William
Harcourt. who was man Of huge bulk
and great height, was spoken OF as
Jumbo
The favorite conundrums today In the
smoke room are First, Why is the gov
ernment like an immoral goose? Because
1t is untrue to .ts proper gander tpropa-
ganda>. The second and better conundrum
is, WHAT IL t0e plutdl w wv
Geddes, a play upon the fact that the
Geddes brothers are chosen by Lloyd
George apparently to be the superman OF
every hard Job that he takes In hand. one
Of the nicknames for one Of the brothers-
q play upon his Christian name OF AUCKLAND
ard on his somewhat portentous appear
ance, with his dark complexion, his rather
tulging eyes and his prominent nose-ls
.the Great AUX" Herbert. now Loro
~
Gladstone, was known at Eton school al
ways as "Tuppence." He happened to oe
at the school at the moment when his IL
lustrious father had just added two-pence
to the income tax, and fy that name ne
was known to his old school fellows when
they and he were members OF the House OF
Commons.
Another habit Of the House is to call men
with longish names by the initials OF tneir
Christian names, or by the 1irst letter Va
their surname. Gladstone was always
spoken of as Mr.. c.; Sir Henry Camp
bell Bannermann as &C. b.; Thomas wal
lace Russell, once prominent politician
now in retirement as a hotel proprietor IN
Dublin, was always called IT. W.. neeu
not repeat the initials by which am al
ways addressed by political friends ana
foes in the House. The Prime Minister IS
usually spoken Of as Il. g.
Benn Has Most Nicknames.
But the member who has the most nick
names is Captain Wedgwood Benn. He IS
not very much liked by his Tory oppon-
ents. so their title for him is the somewhat
opprobrious one Of Buttons" A more
popular and respectful name is that OF
Little Ben" The great clock In the tower
of the House OF Commons, as everybody
knows. is known as big Ben," and this
suggests often the application Of Its name
to members Of the House. There were two
Bentincks once in the House OF commons
one big and the other small; they we're
known accordingly as Big Zen and
Little Ben" -
when you see wedgwood Ben you are
not surprised that he should suggest the
nickname of Buttons" Though about
forty years OF age, he looks just the
height, size and age Of the boy Buttons or
the English household. He Is scarcely five
feet high. His body is as slender as
boys. His cheek Is peach blossom and the
expression Of the face. with rather conf
eyes, is exactly the look OF the typicai
street gamin of London, with its shrewd-
ness. its imperturbable good humor and its
readiness to take on any little job. Wedg-
wood Benn might act the part OF Peter
Pan on the stage. or perhaps the apter
analogy is to Charlie Chaplin OF the films.
And here comes the curious part OF the
story. Little Benn has proved himself one
OF the heroes of the war. He Is passion
ately devoted to politics. and up to the
war never thought OF anything else. The
House Of Commons is as much his home as
IL he had been born in II. To men OF that
there Is one fore-ordained
job--a job which consists of vigilance to
the least detail of House Of Commons life.
with an interest In gossip, a knowledge OF
the haunts and the weaknesses OF every
member. of the telephone number either
in his own home or somebody else's home
during his absence from the House; :
power to tabulate strictly. &c Those arc
the functions Of the whips. So when his
party came into power Wedgwood Benn
was appointed one OF the whips.
~Fiery Young Particle"
You could see him every night, while the
House of Commons was sitting, at the door
Of the inner lobby OF the House by which
members enter or leave, with a pencil
behind his ear, a notebook in his hand, a
look OF Interrogation In his eye and with
his slight dapper boyish figure and his
spruce manner. looking just like the fiery
young particle" as Gilbert and Sullivan
call Il In the play.
Then came the war, and TO the surprise
Of everybody the eternal boy left the
whips room and the House OF Commons
and his country, and the next hearo OF
him was that he was at Gallipoli, and had
entered on all the perils and destinations
Of the airman's career. Stories occasional
ly trickled home of feats OF his which
showed quite reckless daring. Then he
came home and stood again for Pariia-
ment, and was again returned, and now
Is in the House of Commons. He has just
brought out volume full OF wit and OF
stories of breakneck adventures told very
and almost casually.
A change has come in his fortunes with
the upset In all the old lines Of political life
which came with Lloyd Georges seizure
Of the dictatorship OF the House OF COM
mons, by the defeat Of all the really pow
erful men who once confronted him. The
vacant places left in the ranks Of the lead
ers Of the opposition gave the opportunity
to all the young fellows TO come along.
And thus II comes to pass that you can see
the extraordinary and almost incredible
spectacle OF this Peter Pan getting UP from
the most sacred OF all spots In the House
OF Commons. except the bench where the
members of the government cit. namely
tho front opposition bench. and leading.
for the timo being. on some measure all
the elderly middle aged men that form the
present Liberal party.
Tho best Of 1t is. the speeches are quite