The Cordova daily times., 1923-01-24


 ing article for International News Service giving his impressions of Parliament "by ear"
 LONDON, Jan. 24--When 1t is not possible to observe the faces and figures of ones colleagues in the House of Commons. the next best thing Is to study their voices and ac- cents. It has been perforce a habit of mine for some years to regard ny fellow men in this manner; and Parliament, where events are ruled by discussion, gives me endless op. portunities.
 Never before has the Glasgow ac- cent so dominated debate in the national assembly. The dialect made famous in London and elsewhere in England by Sir Harry Lauder is to be heard constantly in the House and the Hobbies, and it is probably idle for me to pursue any longer the Sassenach view that this is the authentic Scottish accent. In the north of Scotland we do not like the Lauder tongue; but the Socialists of Clyeside are neither to be ignored nor denied at Westminster. And we poor Northerners must give ip and accept our fate. From henceforth for evermore the voice of Glasgow will be accepted as the voice of Scotland; the more's the pity, but there it is!
 "WonderfuI Tongue'
 A wonderful tongue it is, capable of infinite notifications. In it's lowest keps it can be used as the most appealing and plaintive of in- struments. When passion commands it can become as raucous as a klaXon horn and about as menacing. There is Mir Kirkwood. I can hardly be- live he loves the sound of his own voice; but it is certain he uses it with much frequency, mostly to in terrupt opponents.
 f10 Has LHt 1Il1 CdtlpliiClll oI 'iiN street-corner orator. No gentleness or beauty is permitted to qualify the crudeness of his opinions "Glesca' is the most aggressive pitch in his vocal stock-in-trade. The most reas- enable arguments must sound reVolu- tionary when conveyed by such medium.
 And then there is Mr. ShinWell who does himself less than justice on the frequent occasions when he adopts the sneering tone. He makes my blood run cold then. It was thus that the serpent spoke to the woman What a fool she must have been to listen to him!
 But. of course, the Labor Party is not all from Clydesde. The leader Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, is pretty much a countryman of my own. He speaks good Scots-Which is, of course, excellent English. "More- ovor," as he would say himself, he has been endowed by nature with a fine voice. musical and resonant having some very effective bass notes. He has, they say, acquired the perfect front-bench manner. rms does not mean-as a cynical old Par Namentary hand vowed the other day-that his speeches are largely inaudible.
 As I listen I gain the impression that this is a courteous gentleman prepared to give assistance to the Government so that work may be carried on in the meantime, but that there is to be @ very definite period to the "meantime," and when we really get a satisfactory Parliament that is to say, a Parliament with Labor Minstry~-then we shall be shown how things really ought to be done.
 Mir. Macdonald has one oratoric2l vice. He is apt to humble the final words of sentence. This is eX- 9sDerating to members who do him the honor to think everything he says is interesting.
 Fascinating Pause
 When he is speaking with delib- eration and care he has a fascina- ting trick of pausing-not at the end of a sentence, but at the first word of a new sentence, and his f,1orite resting words are the "More- over," "aforesaid," and "But, MT, Speaker"
 wish MT. Lansbmy were as clear in his diction as his leader. He is such a persistent heclller of Min isters that one desires to know what he is bothered about. In ondcwing him with that untitled, deeptoned voice suggestive of foghorn in mourning. Providence obviously in