_Question._ Why do you desire to enter the House of Commons?
_Answer._ Because, if I am honoured by my fellow-men by being chosen
to represent them, it is my ambition to serve them faithfully and
maintain in all its glorious integrity the time-honoured heritage of
this mighty empire.
_Q._ Yes, so you have said in your address to the electors; but have
you no other reason for wishing to occupy a seat in Parliament?
_A._ Certainly. The prestige bestowed by the letters "M.P." is
pleasing, and if the honour ultimately culminates in a baronetcy or a
knighthood the distinction will be gratifying to my wife.
_Q._ Then you would not be adverse to receiving promotion in the line
to which you have referred?
_A._ No; because I should consider that I acted merely as a trustee to
my constituents--that I, in fact, appeared in the character of their
personal representative.
_Q._ Yes, you said something of the sort the other evening at a
canvassing meeting in reply to a question put to you by one of your
voters; but surely the decoration would be desirable for some other
consideration?
_A._ It undoubtedly would have a certain market value in the City in
the eyes of promoters of public companies of limited liability.
_Q._ What measures have you taken to secure election beyond issuing
the very admirable address to which I have, more than once, referred?
_A._ For the last two or three years I have assiduously nursed the
constituency.
_Q._ What do you mean by nursing a constituency?
_A._ Obtaining a stake in the shape of land and a house in
the division, and making myself generally popular amongst my
fellow-ratepayers.
_Q._ How can you become popular?
_A._ By subscribing largely to local charities and institutions,
laying foundation stones, and opening fancy bazaars with untiring
energy.
_Q._ What considerations weigh with you when you are invited to add
your name to a subscription-list?
_A._ I take care to make the sum I give a little larger than that
contributed by my opponent, and take it as a general rule that lawn
tennis is of more importance than dispensaries, and polo, from a
benevolent point of view, takes precedence of associations established
to relieve dire distress.
_Q._ Is there any other method which may be adopted with advantage by
those desirous of nursing a constituency?
_A._ Speaking frequently in assembly rooms, taking nursery gardens for
the same purpose, and generally improving trade in the neighbourhood.
_Q._ Then the money paid for the hirings to which you refer is
commercially popular?
_A._ It is, and (joined of course to the eloquence of my friends and
myself) should distinctly influence the election.
_Q._ And should you be elected, what do you suppose you will have to
do?
_A._ To thoroughly enjoy the honour of being able to treat the House
of Commons as a club, and being asked by the leaders of my Party
to all their entertainments. I shall see my name in every newspaper
report when I have happened to take part in a popular function. I
shall find that I have mounted the social ladder by leaps and bounds,
and be able to pleasurably patronise or cut direct those who now
become my inferiors.
_Q._ And what consideration will support you in your general
demeanour?
_A._ The conviction that all I do, and have done, is and has been
actuated by the purest patriotism.
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"DALY NEWS! SPECIAL!"
Once again we welcome the return of Miss ADA REHAN, with JAMES LEWIS
the Lively, and Mrs. GILBERT the Good, to DALY'S, in Leicester Square.
But so short is their season, and so many are the pieces
announced, that to take more than a snap-shot at any one of them is
impracticable, seeing that the Daly changes are weekly. Ere anyone
sees these lines AUGUSTIN DALY'S train of thought will have passed
over, and beyond them. _The Railroad of Love_ will have served its
purpose, and become a siding. _Two Gentlemen of Verona_ will be
travelling first-class on Shakspearian main line leading to _Midsummer
Night's Dream_, which, with its fairy revels and its music, will
represent the terminus of this short journey. When will DALY & CO.
come to stay?
* * * * *