TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12480, 17 April 1906, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Tlie "cheers" with "HeaT, Hear." which a reoort of a

speech in the House of Commons are punctuated are notcheeis at all. they are merely "Hear, heats,'* by which members express everything in the 2amut. of human emotion. For tihe House has declared that this is the only method by which a member can express lvs emotions. "If you wi-rfh." writes Mr T. P. O'Connor, "to signify .that your reason is convinced by some cold argument adduced by a speaker, you say 'Hear, hear.' If you -wish to reveal that your emotions liave l>eon somewhat touched by a profound appeal of an eloquent character, you stall say 'Hear, hear.' If you wish to go further and indicate that- you have be in otirred to your depths, you still say 'Hear, hear.' It is always the same little monosyllable to reveal the wide ditTerenco of emotion, from a mere cold intellectual assent to tlie revelation of feelings that lie close to the fountain of tears, or rage, or despair." The exclamations aro interpreted l.y the Press gallery. Simple- intellectual assent goes down as ''Hear, hoar," a deeper expression! of emotion becomes "Cheers," a still greater depth is '".Laud cheers," arid finally, -when the ©motion is sublime, and the duration of its expression marked, we have "Loud and prolonged cheers." It is not difficult to pick up the differenrb degree- and tones; an observant journaJd-t can do it in a couple of days. The irony ivhach tlie House throws into a "Hear, hear" can never bo mris-unders-tood. 'Tho voice of t'he Houso is quite as easily distinguished as the cry of a paok of fox hound- or beagles, and the ear becomes so attuned to tire sound thatt it can detect its nicest and smallest inflections and declinations." Great men in the House liave so'iuetdnie- a distinctive way of expressing their feelings. Mr Gladstone's iraniioal "Hear, hear" was an instance of this. "His voice was always rather deep and 'sonorous, but when he came to utter an ironical 'Hear, hoar,' the voice «»med to oome out of the depths of some dark and haunted cavern, and the okl man could look so weird and sconniful as the deep voice rang out its 'Heair, hear,' that you were struck by a curious feeling of mingled terror and amusement." Sometimes "Heair, hear" becomes defaced by mis-pron_nci_tioin, as in the case of Sir William Fowler, a wontihy city alderman, who always said "Yah, yah" when he wanted to "cheer." Clapping of the hands 16 quite an awful breach of order and tradition. Mr O'Connor goers on to Maiden note tho exceptional numSpeeches. ber of maiden speeches in the opening days "of tho present 6€_gioiD. Tho old advice to a young member to remain at least one whole session without opening his lips is no longer followed. Mr O'Connor attributes this to tho fact that the last election was so remarkable that several members have not yet awakened to the fact they are not still electioneering. He notes, too, "a singktr aibsenco in the speeches of tho new members of that comparative tranquilisation of tone which the House of Commons usually seems to. beget. There is still something of the shrillness, the exaggeration, and the hardhitting which are the characteristics of the platform rather than of the forum." He admits, however, that though the young member has been rather more forward than those of an older generalion, ho justifies his daring by his cleverness. Mr Labouchere has also something to say about the ambition of the young member in the direction of oratory, and pours cold water on this ambition, in very characteristic fashion. He quotes the story of the new member with aspirations who asked Disraeli what he ought to do. The reply was: "Sit through all the sittings of the House, and keep silent." "B\it what," asked the member, "when the House is not sitting?" "Then read Hansard." was tho answer. The /member suggested that this would not bring him forward.

"Come again," replied Mr Disraeli, "in two years, and I wiU further advice you." Excellent advice, says Mr l/i----bmicheio, ''for there are old men and men in a hurry, and many of them get into Parliament." When a member makes his maiden speech, the etiqiutte is for the next spenker to congratulate him upon, the great acca> sion he will be to the debating power of the House, a compliment which means nothing. The next time he speaks few will listen to him. ' The first business of tho average member is "to permeate himself with the atmosphere of the Houso." When he begins to understand his surroundings he should occasionally make a few observations in Committee, but take good care that they do' not occupy more than five minutes. Let him havo nothing to do with carefully prepared essays, for the perpetration of such is voted a bore, and the House of Commons will not stand a bore. "If once an M.P. gets into the category of bores, it will take him years to get out of it. Generally speaking, a subject has been thoroughly thrashed out in a debate before he catches the Speaker's eye. This is why he should bo brief, address himself to one particular point which has not been well answered, and in a few minutes resume his teat. Above all things, he should eschew clo-

quence, and ncirer be guilty cf a peroration." From London* ■ comes Clothes and another wail about the the Man. deplorat'.o decay of tho picturesque in our streets. Not only nre things extremely unsatisfactory, writes Mr Sidney * Dark in the "Dairy Express," but they are becoming worse, for the people who formerly lent a little colour to a drab scene are now becoming painfully conventional. "Onci? upon a time every self-respecting painter with Royal Academy ambitions wore a Vandyck beard and a velveteen jacket. Now the beard has disappeared, and the velveteen) jacket is only worn by unsuccessful photographers." This new fashion for the literary and artistic, he submits, is foolish, as witness the career of Mr G. B. Shaw. That ecceTitrie person laid the foundation of his success by ap*>earing liefcre the curtain c.i the fii-i-t night of his firs* pSay in. a yellow suit and a flannel shirt, for it was felt- at oncn that, this must bo a gnat man. "It may he said without hesitation, that it would havo taken Mr Shaw at least another ten years to gain recogniitioii for his great talents if he had ever worn a silk hat or patent leather boots." The lamentable fact is that the dramatist aaid tho novelist and the artist have found that tlie orthodox method of attire leads to less trouble with their female relations than does the Shaw metlio-d, and can no longer be regarded as picturesque persons. "Tho Socialist is still doing something to break the deadly momctony. Tlio flannel shirt, aaid the flaming red tie are still to be seen, and still denote that their wcar?r is in favour of the nationalisation of railwaye, while every cow and 1 again one's heart rejoices to meet a lady with very short hair and a pocketr tied round her waist by string, whioK, pocket is a visible pretest agarnf-t the withholding of the franchise from the more intelligent part of the nation." And tho sombroly-dncssed Englishman is not content with the dullness of his own streets, he must needs sober down the colour cf Paris 'boulevairds. Tlie only evil effect of the entente cordiale is that Paris is becoming nearly as uninteresting in the matter of dress as London. '*Certaii.n'ly the French working man still has sufficient commonsense to wear a washable blouse instead of the sawdust-impregnated broadcloth lcv»l l:y his English brother. But the artist and the literary maai are gradually giving up theso magnificently picturesque garments made of weird and wonderful material and cut by a tailor wiitih the audacious imagination of a Verlaine, which once were the joy of the boulevards." But there is ono faint spark of comfort in the midst of ' this blackness. Mr John Burrns has bowed to circumstance, and worm the gold laco and piotui -sou© hat of Court dress.