TALKERS AND WALKERS

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 63, 17 March 1922, Page 2

TALKERS AND WALKERS

BRITISH M.P ; 's.

There is a story, apocryphal no doubt, of an M.P. who opened his lips only.once in the House of Commons (writes "X." in the London 1 Daily Mail). When, after all tho business had been disposed of one evening,' the Speaker rose • with the familiar phrase, "The question is: That this House do now adjourn,"the hero of this story inquired, "When till?" and having achieved this ungrammatical effort he ever after held. his peace.

Modern M.P.'s are not quite so ehy of speech as v all that, but among them there are many whe; are far better pedestrians than pulpiteers. ! Tramping through the division lobbies in the ranks of the Government legions is far more congenial to them than addressing the House, and they will walk for the Government when they won't talk for it.

It may surprise some who oonceive of M.P.'s as babbling all day at Westminster to know that during the main session of last year—f rqm February to .August— a rough one-third of them never contributed a single' speech to any of the debates.

. Out _of the 707 M.P.'s only 403 spoke, according to the careful tabulation of the Parliamentary Gazette. Deducting tho 73 Sinn Fein members, who did not put in an appearance at all, this makes the number of 6ilent members 231. A few of them have put an ocoasional question, but not one of them made a speech filling even co little spaoe as a column of the Official RepoTt, which occupies only two or three minutes at tho most.

It is a melancholy, thing to see a member walking out at tho close of a debate with the notes of an undelivered speech sticking out ot his tail pocket. Ho may be a man whose word is law over 10,000 acres, or a hustling business magnate with 6000 men on the pay roll, one whose secretaries jump 'at the sound of his bell. No matter. If he fails to catch the Speaker's eye the speech /which ho has prepared so carefully must ,i?o into a pigeon hole. Speaking generally, however, any member who wishes to address the Houso has ample opportunity of doing so. The less frequently his voice is heard the more the Speaker will feel inclined to give him a chance. An opening is always found for a member wishing to make a maiden speech, and tho House is invariably courteous and attentive to tho tyro. For a member to interrupt, even with a correction, a colleague who is addressing the House for the first time, is to transgress one cf the unwritten laws of debate, and is certain to bring reproof. Outside; the occupants of the Ministerial bench, who have to speak, of course, the bulk of the speeches come from 100 members or so. If it is the Navy that is under consideration you know for certain that a let. half-dozen men will address the Eouse, \U they can in any way manage to drag themselves down to Westminster. Their nsanes crop up in every Navy debate.

It in the same with the Army, education, trada, _ India, or agriculture. • Each subject has its leading spokesman, for and against; they expound regularly the views that are expected of them, and the rest of the members are content to leave the cas© to them.

Commander Kenworthy is the present champion talker in the House. He is » prominent member of the Opposition, and Gxpreises to the full tha privilege of.the Opposition to oppose. A versatile man, ho is a ready speaker on a variety of topics, and in the last session he filled 387 columns of the Official Report. Reckoning four minutes to a column, Commander Kenworthy was speaking for 25 hours in the aggregate. He was 100 columns ahead of Mr. Chamberlain, the Leader of the House, who spoke 260 columns. Mr Lloyd George's total was no more than 226.

Over 6000 stamps of the former Gorman South-West African colonies are to be sold by tender.

) Scarlet fever and diphtheria cases in London hospitals numbered 8305 a few weeks ago.