Lawyers and laymen vied with one another in condemning the Bill. Mr.
RAE, as one who had suffered much from requisitioners, complained that
their motto appeared to be _L'état c'est moi_. Sir GORDON HEWART, in
mitigation of the charge that there never had been such an Indemnity
Bill, pointed out that there never had been such a War. The Second
Reading was ultimately carried upon the Government's undertaking
to refer the Bill to a Select Committee, from which, if faithfully
reflecting the opinion of the House, it is conjectured that the
measure will return in such a shape that its own draftsman won't know
it.
_Tuesday, May 4th._--The Matrimonial Causes Bill continues to drag its
slow length along in the House of Lords. Its ecclesiastical opponents
are gradually being driven from trench to trench, but are still full
of fight. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY very nearly carried a new
clause providing that it should not be lawful to celebrate in any
church or chapel of the Church of England the marriage of a person,
whether innocent or guilty, whose previous union had been dissolved
under the provisions of the Bill. His most reverend brother of York
spoke darkly of Disestablishment if the clause were lost, and eleven
Bishops voted in its favour, but the Non-Contents defeated it by 51 to
50.
Captain WEDGWOOD BENN wanted to know whether swords still formed
part of the uniform of Royal Air Force officers, and, if so, why. He
himself, I gather, never found any use for one in the "Side Shows"
which he has described so picturesquely. Mr. CHURCHILL'S defence of
its retention was more ingenious than convincing. Swords, he said, had
always been regarded as the insignia of rank, and even Ministers wore
them on occasions. But the fact that elderly statesmen occasionally
add to the gaiety of the populace at public celebrations by tripping
over their "toasting-forks" hardly seems a sufficient reason for
burdening young officers with a totally needless expense.
The POSTMASTER-GENERAL is all for a quiet life. When the Dublin postal
workers announced their intention of stopping work for two days in
sympathy with a Sinn Fein strike, did he dismiss them? Not he. You
can't, as he said, dismiss a whole service. No, he simply gave them
two days' leave on full pay, a much simpler plan.
Thanks to the Irish Nationalists, who have announced their intention
of taking no part in the discussion of the Government of Ireland
Bill, Mr. BONAR LAW was able to drop the scheme for closuring it by
compartments. The new Irish doctrine of self-extermination has given
much satisfaction in Ministerial circles. Mr. CHURCHILL'S gratitude, I
understand, will take the form of a portrait of Mr. DEVLIN as _Sydney
Carton_ under the shadow of the guillotine.
On the Vote for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Colonel
BURN suggested that a new Department should be set up to deal with the
harvest of the sea. Dr. MURRAY approved the idea, and thought that the
Minister without Portfolio might give up loafing and take to fishing.
_Wednesday, May 5th._--Apparently it is not always selfishness that
makes Trade Unionists unwilling to admit ex-service men to their
ranks, but sometimes solicitude for the welfare of these brave
fellows. Take the manufacture of cricket-balls, for example. You might
not think it a very arduous occupation, but Dr. MACNAMARA assured the
House that it required "a high standard of physical fitness," and that
leather-stitching was as laborious as leather-hunting. It is true that
some of the disabled men with characteristic intrepidity are willing
to face the risk, but the Union concerned will not hear of it, and the
MINISTER OF LABOUR appears to agree with them.
Even on the Treasury Bench, however, doctors disagree. Dr. ADDISON
seems distinctly less inclined than Dr. MACNAMARA to accept
the claims of the Trade Unionists at their own valuation. The
bricklayers have agreed to admit a few disabled men to their
union--bricklaying apparently being a less strenuous occupation than
leather-stitching--but exclude other ex-service men unless they have
served their apprenticeship as well as their country. Upon this the
MINISTER OF HEALTH bluntly observed that the idea that it takes years
to train a man to lay a few bricks was in his opinion all nonsense.
_Thursday, May 6th._--Possibly it was because to-day was originally
assigned for the opening of the Committee stage of the Home Rule Bill
that Members in both Houses drew special attention to the present
state of lawlessness in Ireland. If their idea was to create a
hostile "atmosphere" it did not succeed, for, owing to Mr. LONG'S
indisposition, the Bill was postponed. Besides, the fact that every
day brings news of policemen murdered, barracks burned, tax-collectors
assaulted and mail-bags stolen, while to one class of mind it may
argue that the present is a most inopportune moment for a great
constitutional change, may to another suggest that only such a change
will give any hope of improvement.
It is, at any rate, something to know that Irishmen have not in trying
circumstances entirely lost their saving grace of humour. Thus the
writer of a letter to Lord ASKWITH, describing with much detail a raid
for arms, in the course of which his house had been smashed up and he
himself threatened with instant death, wound up by saying, "I thought
I would jot down these particulars to amuse you."
The Commons had a rather depressing speech from Mr. MCCURDY. His
policy had been gradually to remove all food-controls and leave prices
to find their own proper (and, it was hoped, lower) level. But in most
cases the result had been disastrous, and the Government had decided
that control must continue. Sir F. BANBURY complained of the conflict
of jurisdiction between the Departments. It certainly does seem unfair
that the FOOD-CONTROLLER should be blamed because the Board of Trade
is "making mutton high."
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[Illustration: THE PROFITEER'S CIGAR.
_Spokesman of Club Deputation._ "WE TRUST, SIR, THAT YOU ARE NOT
DELIBERATELY WEARING THAT BAND ON YOUR CIGAR, AS IT IS THE DESIRE OF
YOUR FELLOW-MEMBERS THAT YOU SHOULD OBLIGE THEM BY REMOVING IT."]
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