THE HAT IN PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 3436, 18 May 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE HAT IN PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.

SOME AMUSING INCIDENTS.. The hat plays an important part ia Parliamentary customs. It also contri-. butes occasionally to the gaiety of Jife in the House of Commons. No incident is greeted with more hearty laughter than that of a Member, after a magnificent peroration, plumping down on his silk hat on the bench behind him. The bashful and awkward Member generally figures in these accidents. Most members have sufficient self-possession, while speaking, to remember to remove their hats before sitting down; but the misfortune of forgetfulness has befallen even oil and cool Parliament hands, and the result —a misshapen hat —has completely spoiled the effect of some of their most eloquent speeches. A few years ago a London Member sat down, after his maiden speech, on a new silk hat, which he had provider in honour of the auspicious occasion, and as he was ruefully surveying his battered headgear, to the amusement of the unfeeling spectators, an Irish representative rose and gravely said :—“ Mr Speaker, permit me to congratulate the honourable member on the happy circumstance that when he sat oh his hat his head was not in it." The call to “ Order, Order ! " from the Speaker was drowned in roars of laughter. This London representative enjoyed the unenviable distinction of being, known as “ the Member who sat on his hat,” until some other absent-minded legislator unintentionally established, his claim to the title by crushing his headgear in a similarly awkward fashion. When men meet together in public assemblies, or in social life—as in a theatre or at a reception—the ordinary custom is to uncover while they are seated, and to wear their hats as they enter or leave the

place. In Parliamentary life that rule is reversed. Members have their heads

covered as they fiit about the Palace of Westminster, but in the chamber they can wear their hats only when they are seated on the benches'. As they walk to their seats or rise to leave the Chamber they must be uncovered. This custom is the source of much confusion to new Members, and has given rise to many {unity " contretemps. " The House never fails to show its resehtmViit of a breach of etiquette, however trivial. It trill, without distinction of Party, unanimously roar with indignation, at a new Member, who, ignorant or unmindful of the Parliamentary custom, wears his hat as he | walks up or down the floor of the I Chamber. An aim.sing incident occurred v ! , tjvj early, o l jJij, iC-st session of the presedt Parliament. An offending Mem* her, startled by the shout which greeted him as he was leaving the Chamber with his hat on his head, instead of in his hand, paused in the middle of the floor, and looked around with a mingled expression of fright and perplexity. “ Hat, hat! " shouted the House. This only embarrassed him the more. He felt his trousers pockets aud his coat tails for the offending article of attire. He even looked at his feet to see if he were wearing it at that extremity of his person. It is impossible to conjecture what might have happened further, had not an Irish Member, amid the loud laughter of the House, politely taken off the hat of the confused legislator, and then handed it to him with a courtly bow; But the story of the humours of the Parliamentary hat is not yet ended. When a Member is alluded to in the course of a speech, he raises his hat, and he performs a similar act of politeness when a Minister answers a question put by him. A Member addressing the House stands, of course, uncovered. But that rule does not always prevail. There is an occasion when it is positively out of order for a Member to speak on liis feet, and with his hat off. He must speak from his seat, with.his hat on his head. When a debate is terminated, and the question which has been discussed is put from the chair, an interval of two minutes—during which the electric division bells ring ouf their summons all over the precincts of St. Stephen’s—is allowed to enable Members to get to the Chamber. The time is taken by a sandglass on the table, and when it has elapsed the doors of the Chamber are locked. It is at this particular junction that it is essential that a Member who desires to address the Chair on a point of order should retain his sect and wear his hat; . If he Were to, follow the ordinary jiraetidej and stand up uncovered, He would be roared at and shouted at from all sides of the House for this breach of etiquette. Mr Gladstone had occasion a few years ago to address the Chair just as a division was about to bo taken, and, forgetful of the rule for the moment, he rose to his feet. A shout of “ Order, order 1 ” drawing his attention to his mistake, he sat down again; and as he never brought his hat into the Chamber (an example which is followed by most Ministers) he was obliged to put on the headgear of one of his lieutenants who sat on the bench beside him. Now Mr Glad- i stone’s head is of an abnormal size. He , has to get his own hats made to order. It is improbable that the hat of any other Member of the House would fit him ; but the hat available on the occasion of which I write only just covered his crown, and Members made the rafters ring with laughter at his comical efforts to balance it on his head for the few minutes ho occupied in speaking from his seat on the front Opposition bench.—Michael MaoDonagh, in the Nineteenth Century.