POLAND'S VARIED PARLIAMENT.

Bruce Herald, Volume LV, Issue 64, 21 August 1919, Page 4

POLAND'S VARIED PARLIAMENT.

(By Mrs Cecil Chesterton.) There is no smoke-room proper in the Polish Parliament. Members meet and gossip in the refreshment rooms, whero pretty women belonging to aristocratic families in Lithuania, ruined by the war, serve delectable cakes, glasses of tea and creamy coffee. The Press but-ton-hole Ministers and M.P.s in the bull'et or the corridors. Constituents —women mostly—sip tea with their members, urging the necessity of a widowed sister's pension, or explaining that it is the duty of the Government to recoup those who have been ruined by the Bolsheviks. The Kabbi Perhnutter—his long wliito beard far below, his waist—is in great evidence. M. Korfanly, leader of tho House, is also a well-known figure at the buffet. A tall, fair man, with keen blue eyes and features not unlike the late John Eedmond's, he is member for a constituency in Silesia, but his hobby is Posnania. There, he contends, are the brains of Poland, "the best organisers, the most efficient administrators." Then there is M. Lawzinski, a Warsaw member and a minor poet, with very long hair, haggard eyes, and a humorous mouth. He affects futurist neckties, and is usually seen with a peasant from Zaco-Pany, for the sake — so say his friends—of the colour value of the mountaineer's gorgeous dress. M. Graski, chairman of the Foreign Committee of the Seym, is invariably courteous, inevitably late, and generally pursued by a secretary who reminds him over tea of an overlooked appointment. M. Swanoski is one of tho most popular Ministers at the buffet. Ho has a twinkling smile and a most infectious laugh. ' ' Tho Prime Minister is not often at the House except for a full-dress debate.- Monsieur Five P's, as the people call him—Padcrcwski, Polish, Patriot, Pianist, and President—is a very hard worker. He starts the day at nine in the morning and contiucs till late at night. His flat at the Bristol is guarded by amiable and picturesque soldiers, who make, no attempt to keep intruders out. That, however, is done by Mine. Paderewski, who surrounds her husband with a rampart of solicitude. So devoted is she to his interests that no one can app-oaeh —further than the sentries —without her consent. Xo interviews take place without her knowledge. Tho Speaker, M. Trampyshnski, square-shouldered, thick set, and like Gladstone, stands aloof from tho social side of Parliament. The Achbishop, Tiodorowicz, on the contrary, generally has tea in all the glory of his robes and golden chain. The women members take their duties seriously. Their hats are distressingly serviceable ,and thoir boots sen' siblc to a degree, The Polish elcganto, no matter what the price, is beautifully shod. She possesses slim feet and charming ankles. Tho Polish M.P.'s have not yet acquired the -parliamentary roar ; their "bravos" sound a little thin, but there is no mistaking their dissent. They rise en masse and yell retorts, until the Speaker rings his bell, when overyono upon tho whole.