Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-07

4
thing they want Is reformed chamber
a strong conservative Eenaet. which vii
act as check upon any attempt {,
turn Britain into Socialist state b,
the acts Of Parliament.
| The Lords wondered what was goinl
| to happen to them when the firSt Labo
| government came In. That government
could not do much, however, since re.
volt of the Liberals would have brougf
1t down; therefore it hastily elevated {
couple of lawyers and q general to thu
peerage, and these three, with q couple
of sympathetic war lords already In tn,
House, sat In grotesque state In tht
middle Of the front bench and held tht
Labor fort.
Meantime the Lords are being at.
tackled from another quarter. Seyera
Of the peeresses In their own right ar.
strenously demanding admission there
are 40 Of them in all With women II
son--save their lordships' innate con.
servatism-why they should not be il
the House of Lords. But this Is 4
matter for the Lords alone to settle
and so fairbanks mainly to Lore
Birkenhead's trenchant and at time,
savage oratory-the bills which LORD
Astor has brought In for the admission
Of peeresses have been defeated.
An Old Time Defeat.
There is one recorded occasion-twc
centuries ago-on which peeresseS
closed with the lords on this issue and
defeated them handsomely. An i'm.
portant debate was due, and 1t was
, unanimously resolved that women be
excluded and the gallery reserved fol
the sole use of the Commons. Thi,
annoyed certain politically minded
peereSSeS
Lady Huntingdon, the Duchess Of
QueenSbury. the Duchess of Ancaster
the Duchess of Westmoreland, Lady
Gotham. Lady Charlotte Edwin, Lady
Archibald Hamilton, Lady Saundersor
and one or two others presented them.
selves at o'clock at the door of the
House of Lords. They were met BY
Sir William Saunderson, who respect.
fully informed them that the chan
cellor had made an order against theil
admittance.
"The Duchess of Queensbury." say;
Lady Mary william Montague, de.
scribing the incident, in letter dated
1888, "pished at the Iii breeding of a
mere lawyer, and desired Sir william
to let them up the stairs privately
After some modest refusals the
guardian of the door swore by c.
that he would not let them up. Hell
, grace, with a noble warmth, answered
by c. they would come in, in spite
Of the chancellor and the whole House.
This being reported. the Lords resolved
to Starve them out. and an order was
made that the door should not be
HA vyac
The ladies kept on till 5 o'clock
every now and then flinging volleys
of thumps, kicks and raps against the
door, with so much violence the voices
of the speakers were often drowned
At last the duchess, who had some
knowledge of military Stratagems, COM
manded silence for half an hour.
The stratagem was successful. Thu
chancellor thought they had Ione ttht
Commons had been kept waiting ane
were impatient to enter) and ordered
the doors opened. Then the foe rushed
in, pushed aside competitors and oc.
cupied the front row of the gallery
where they stayed until IL. when thu
Lords rose. During the debate the,
approved or showed marks Of dislike
not only by smiles and winks
but by noisy laughs and apparent con
tempts." thereby putting several OF tn
more nervous peers out of their stride
when they got up to speak.
Occasion for Peerages.
It is hard for an Englishman Il
imagine an England without its angus
House of Lords and the periodical i'm
pressiye pageantry of the state open
ing of Parliament by the King. Thu
is the only occasion on which TN
hereditary peerages wear their ful
habiliments, accompanied by then
ladies, tiara'd and coroneted, with III
wraps over evening gowns.
They surge past the scarlet-and-gold
white breeched Kings marshals ant
along the corridors and up the wid'
marble stairs. ROBBED and wearing TIT
collars and stars of the various order
of knighthood, they gather in the grea
central chamber, with the purple wool
sack, the lord chancellors seat, in TIT
center and the great state thrones undel
gilded canopies at the south end.
They sit in order according 10 TN
dates of their creation-the dukes near
est the throne, the marquises and earl
next, viscounts and barons in jumbo
with the spiritual peers and the wa
the crimson robes back and front. indi
cate the wearer's rank-two for baron
and viscounts, three for an earl, three
and half for marquis, four Tor
duke. The bishops don't sport bars
but have larger hoods. The judges weai
black robes embroidered In gold.
A stir. The rustic of a thousand robe
and voices still abruptly. Scarlet-and
gold men In plumed helmets and lont
white gauntlets appear, the gentlemen
alarms heralding the procession pre-
ceding the sovereign down the grea'
corridor between the Kings robint
room and the Lords chamber.
Lord Chandeliers Position.
Now, preceded by mace-bearers, comes
the first man who really means some,
thing In terms of power, the lord chan.
cellor, head of the judiciary, with much
patronage in his pocket, carrying TN
great seal of England In gorgeous
Sachet.
Finally, behind the sword Of state ane
the crown and emblems Of royalty, come
the King and Queen, pacing slowly y
robes of crimson velvet, starred Will
points of black fur, their long train!
borne by pages under the direction OF .
groom of the robes. The Queen wears
miniature crown of diamonds, but thu
King is bare-headed, field marshalt
plumed hat under his arm, and beneath
his resplendent robe field marShari
uniform blazing with jewels and orders
and with the broad blue sash OF thu
Order Of the Garter across his shout
der.
The king seats himself upon ths
throne, the Queen beside him. (Befort
Victoria's day the Queen sat f1umbly II
small chair at her lords feet, as be.
fitted q member of a sex that had M
political, and precious few legal, rights
The Prince Of Wales has chair OF stat,
on his fathers left.
The lord great chamberlain, the feat
court functionary, approaches, inclinei
his head for the old formula. He trans
mits to the black rod the Kings com.
mand to the Commons ITO attend hi
majesty Immediately in the House o.
Lords" on goes black rod.
Behind closed doors the Commons arr