"Door!" "Door!"

Evening Post, Volume LXIX, Issue 118, 20 May 1905, Page 13

"Door!" "Door!"

THE PARLIAMENTARY HIVE. There is no body in tho woild (says "T. 11." in M.A.1 1.) which livi-s 111010 under tho public eyo (him tho House of Commons. Loul Hussoll, who was ono of the gicntesl iiirmes of Pailiiimont. »> his dny and gencinlion, oncu cumpnied (ho House to a hive of bees with gluns fklcH; oven body roidd moo tho bees in their every'movement. And yet, p.irtly owing to conditions of structiue, there nro incidents in (ho life of tho llouso which me hidden fioni Hip outsido public, and which have voids, ciies, incidents of which tho public see nothing, of which they very often know nothing. You might ask any of (lie many able gontlomcn who for years have oWivcd tho Hoube of Commons from the IVss Ciiillory the meaning of a little incident, a little cry which took phico a. fow d.iys ago in the Uouae without finding that they could understand or explain it. SHIRKING A DIVISION. This was tho incident. Mr. Balfour and the Tariff Reformers had agreed that they should not tako n division on tho reiolulion against Protection which had been pioposcd by Mr. Ainsworlh on the Wednesday of last week. I do Jiot go into (ho reasons which lay behind this lesulve—l might bo drawn into political discussion which would bo out of placo in these particular columns —l only slate tho fact. On the othor hand, tho Liberals were equally rofcolved to forco a» division. Tho reasons for this resolvo on their part can easily bo undeislood and can bo Hinted. When one party shirks v division tho other party always, of course, wants it; just as when one army shirks ti hatUo the other army pietsos the more forward. II «•»« knowi> that if there weio a division two things would probably happen. First a largo number of Unionists would tako an opportunity of voting with tho Liberals in tmpporl of tho anti-Protectionist resolution. This Mould swell the Free Trade and Liberal Lobby. On tho other hand, if ho many of the friends of Mr. Balfou.r and of ilr. Chamberlain refused to go into tho lobby ngaiust the icsolution, it was clear that liio vote in that lobby would bo oxttenicly small; and tho exposure of an extremely small -vole npainst n lesolution denouncing Protection would, of course, bo n victory for those who are opposed to Piotection. Till', TKLLF.RR. To force a division in (ho nou»<» of Commons is ordinarily ono of tho simplest I operations; if anything, it is too simple ' find too eiiay. A very small minority ' has only to say "Tho Ayes have it" or "Tho Noes linvo it" to compel tho Speaker lo call for a division Thtro are only one or two wnjn of avoiding a division. If (ho Spcnker be convinced (ha! the division is railed by but an insignificant minority of the House, and purely foi (ho purpose of wasting time, ho can call upon (hose who are asking tho division lo riso in their p'urcx, mid then if they Amount lo but a few men — j fhc or six or so—ho can count them, and i »o avoid a division. A division may bo : avoided without tho intervention of tho .Speaker if there ho no real desire on any largo body of members to have a division. To have a division it is necessary that there should bo nt least two people dorci mined to forro it. When- , over a division takes place, ench side is represented by two incmhcru, who count the voto-t of tlio.io taking pnrt in tho division; tlicso gentlemen are culled teller*. They correspond to what are called scrutineers in n meeting in (ho City. Now, uii'pw there aio two mom. bunt who are willing to art for cneh' side as tellers in the division, no division can fnko place, '['hero have been officious •when the only persons taking part in division on onu sido have been the two I telleis. They solemnly had lo walk up tho lloor of the House after tho division, and listen while the tollers of the win- j ning side announced that thfiro weio so many on tho ono oido and none- on tho other. SIR FRKDKRICK TUNBURY. On tho evening tho history of which I am telling there was a strong dwiro on the Unionist side to avoid a division, as there- was on tho Liberal mdo to forco ] ono. Among the members of the Unionist paily (hero is v. (.'cnllemim who plays a very much inoro important part in the j economy of the House of Commons) than anybody outside that nwipnibly can realise. Ho is ono of the small gront men of the Tlouso of Commons; ono of Hie unseen but potent forces that lie behind (he wot king of that cumbrous and Minngo inucliitv. This is Sir Fiodcrick Banbury. Sir Fioderick Hanbuiy is a busy man in thfi City, whcie he is member of a largo (inn of ntockbiokcrs, but he manages lo be nearly always in his place in the House of Commons. Ho is a very' quiet, soft-spoken, well-groomed man, with fair hair, blue eyes., delicate featmps; just one of thoso Saxons who underneath great composure and tranquillity of manner conceal immonso resolution, inexhaustible patience, unconquerable, tenacity, violent convictions, and s'nwig prejudice.* lie i» perhaps Uio he«fc Tory in the llouso of Commons Ho lmlos municipal trading, he hates extonsion in any form of governmental interference, he distrusts and dislikes all legislation, ho thinks that all change is more likely to Iw for the worse thai) the bettor, and, finally, he is a consistent, persistent, political hater. Temperament te'.ls in politics nioro than intellect. This quiet City man is by the sheer forco of his character and his convictions able to play a very important part in parliamentary life. "I OBJECT." Tt is ono of the rules of tho Houso that no measuro, unless under special ciicuinst.ince, can be proceeded with after twelvo o'clock at night if objection bo taken by any ono member of tho House. When twelve o'clock comes the same sreno is enacted every night throughout every session. Tho Clerk roads the title of it Dill; the member in chargy of it cries out "Now,' by which he means that he wants tho Bill to be pioi'ceded with there and then; Sir j Frederick Banbury simply liflf his hat ' and ciie* out immediately, "I objoel," and the Bill has to be postponed to another dny This peu'oimance goes on night utter nighl for months, until in (he end Ihe sesHion is over, ami tho un- , foitiinate It ill has to bo re'egated to another jnai. This ta one of tho func- | Hoiih of Kir Fmluick Banbury, but it I is only one AN I.MI'EKTURBAULK STOPOAP. Tho now rules of the House of Commons give tho House—as overybody knows—an hour and a-li,ilf for dinner— that is to say, from hulf-pasl seven to nine o'clock. It is a miflleiently whorl interval, in any ease; it is sometimes made even khoiler by tho House being delajed until twenty minutes to eight or even Intel, so that \\\v member does not got home till eight o'clock or later. A member of Parliament would be inoio than human if he weie not inclined to lurry n little over his dinner afler a hntd day's work, and thus it happens that when the House it-assembles at nine o'clock main support! i.s of the (io\einment ate Mill sipping then loftic and liqupius. Tins is the inom.-nt when a vigilant Opnuaition, anxious to get a

Government out of office, tiies to lake a snatch division, for the Government is cifton at that tinw in a minoiity. It is then that tl»o gifts of Sir Fiederiok l'.inbury come into play. lie n.ws to his feet j theio is a shout of dciiMon, despair, hntied trom Ihe Liboi.il benches, for they know vciy well the meaning of (ho manreuvrc— it is simply to consume time until tho battalions of Iho Ministry havo filled up and the Government is restored to i(s niajoiity. But Sir Frederick Kiuilmiy i« f l ull ° ""disturbed by thcf-e demonsiintions. Ho goes on his way— stumbling, halting, stammering, speaking not out of tho fulness, but tho scantinchS of his ideas and his knowledge of the particular Bill before tho Hoiwo. Thete is » Ktoun of impatient interruptions, lising gradually to a cyclone of angry reinonslrance and of impotent despair; but. Sir Frederick goes on his way quite iinpei tm bably, rather gtad perhaps that his enemies arc helping him to bridge over tho hoi i id interval of lime which has lo elapwj before t'ho lingering and leisurely suppoileis of the Go\einment ate in their places. COMKDY. On tho hihlorio Wednesday night, while all tho other members of tho Conservativo Party had loft their places, Sir Frederick, the brave leader of a forlorn hope, remained at 'his post, anxious to see if tho situation could in nny way be raved. When tho Liberals showed their deleiniination to havo a division, Sir Frederick equally lesolved that no division should tako placo. Ho thereupon bothonght him of tho rule which permits tho Speaker to call upon those who wain a division to rise in their places. If thd Speaker had taken this hint, of course onlj about two would havo risen — per haps even not two — for Sir Frederick might havo in the moantinio discreetly disappeared. Tho Liberals at the moment wero just ns determined that (hero should bo a division, and they also had to lesort to stratagem. I havo referred lo tho rule which compels at least two members lo challengo a division and to announce their readiness to act as tellers. There are not two stouter Liberals or Frco Traders in the Houso of Commons than Mr. Levy, tho member for Leicester, nnd Mr. Allen, member for one of tho divisions of Gloucester. But they resolved to sacrifice themselves on this occasion, nnd to |poak for the moment nfl Protectionists nnd Unionists. THE WHIPS. Then the f.irco began. All tho Protectionists or Balfouiitcs who had been left in the Houso .suddenly quitted it. Sir Gilbert Pinker was the last to leave, which he did under a brilliant salvo of iionical cheers fioni the now triumphant and nggievMVQ Fieo Tradeis. But Sir Fiedoriok Banbury nnd Mr. MassoyMainwaiing remained, and these heroic two waked into tho Protectionist lobby, whi'o hundreds — Unionists as well as Liberals, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach nnd Lord George Hamilton, ns well as "C.-B." and John Morlcy — streamed into tho opposite lobby. It was then that thero rose that curious cry with which I havo headed (his article. When members get into tho division lobbies thoy sometimes aio inclined to loiter. It is a dreary process, anyhow — that of walking through lobbies' time after time— it is peripatetic po'itiefi instead of peripatetic philosophy. Sometimes members get into camot convocation and forget that time is Hying. Very often a member situ down at one of tho thrro tables which nro in each lobby and tries to got lid of a letter or two which is hanging on his mind. These are the loiterers or tho oblivious after whom (ho Whips have to look. It ii thotr business to boo that every mnn is counted, that every man gels thtnugh ; in fhort, they huvo to perform the duties of \he whipper-in in the hunting-field, from which their title is derived, Them in scarcely over a division in which the Whi|>n havo not to suy something to hurry muinliers up, nnd to get them hack into the House from tho division lobby. And thero is a word which is quilo understood by member* of Parliament, but would not be understood by anybody ebx\ which is a sort of lallyinj.' cry. That word is "Door!" "Door!" "Door!" SARCASTIC HUMOUR. But tho moaning is very snnplo for apparently a cryptic cry. It means that tho member is nsked to hufry up to tho door through which he has (o pass beforo ho returns to tho House. This is a big door with two wings. Ono of theso is closed when thu division is taking place, so that only ono member can puss through it at a lime. Out-side this door stand tho two tellers, each representing a different side, and each counting tho mrmbciH .is they pass And when tho Whips shout "Door!" "Door!" what they mean then is that the member should pass on through the lobby and get to tho door and back to the House as soon as possible. Now when Sir Fredeiick Banbury and Mr. Masspy-Mainwaring appeared in nil their stately and forlorn solitude in Iho Protectionist Lobby they wero met by a number of exultant Liberals who weio standing outside, and they wero greeted with shouts of "Door!" "Door !" Tho snrensm was subtle, but quite palpable of a Parlmmentuiiau. "Door !" "Door!" is only hoard when thero is a big number of members in a division, when a pood deal of timo is taken up in getting tho member!) through ; nnd "Door !" "Door !" therefore, was meant to emphnsise the fact thai there wero so few Protectionists found in tho Protectionist Lobby. In order to understand tho British llouso of Commons you should see them on an occasion liko this. They at once loso all gravity nnd oven self-control. Thoy laugh and cheer boisterously ; thoy hold their sidos with delight ; (hey cry themselves hoaiso. Anybody who thinks of the llouso of Commons n.s a placo where men <uo always grave, entirely mistakes its spirit and its habits. If you think of it as on assembly of grownup schoolboys, you nro much nearer tho mark. And, after all, it is tho least momentous and dignified an assembly bocause it daros to be so human.