_Monday, February 12th_.--Question-time, which towards the end of last
Session was extended by a quarter-of-an-hour, to-day reverted to its old
limits. Consideration for overworked officials was assigned as the reason,
but I think the House as a whole was rather relieved at the disappearance
of what was often a _triste quart d'heure_. One can easily have a surfeit
of the piquant humours of Mr. GINNELL, Mr. KING and the rest of the _Rosa
Dartles_ of the House.
The new Administration received some useful support from an unexpected
quarter. Mr. MCKENNA, a little disturbed, perhaps, by the discovery that he
had been a trifle of 350 millions out in his Budget estimate of the cost of
the War, was fain to rebuke the Government for proposing two big Votes of
Credit on one day. This unprecedented demand, he insisted, must have some
dark purpose behind it. Were the Government contemplating a General
Election? Mr. BONAR LAW quietly reminded him that exactly the same thing
had been done this time last year when Mr. MCKENNA himself was at the
Exchequer.
"Luff, boy, luff," whispered Mr. ASQUITH to his discomfited lieutenant, who
thereupon went off on another tack and proceeded to express doubts as to
the wisdom of over-sea expeditions. But his course was again unfortunate.
"Why did you go to Salonika?" interjected a voice from below the Gangway.
As Major GODFREY COLLINS afterwards observed, neither the House nor the
country will stand much criticism of the new Government by members of the
old one.
_Tuesday, February 13th_.--Lord BERESFORD, in latter days heard with
difficulty in the House of Commons, has found his voice again in the ampler
air of the Gilded Chamber. His speech this afternoon on the submarine peril
and how to defeat it might have wakened the echoes in the Admiralty at the
far end of Whitehall. It evoked an admirable reply from Lord LYTTON, who,
though not exactly a typical British tar in appearance, has evidently
absorbed a full measure of the sea-spirit. Necessarily reticent as to the
exact nature of the steps that are being taken to deal with the
sea-highwaymen, he made the comforting announcement that already we had
achieved very considerable success. This was endorsed by Lord CURZON, who
revealed the interesting fact that he too is now a member of the Board of
Admiralty, and was able to state that, after two years of "frightfulness,"
the British mercantile marine was only a small fraction below its tonnage
at the commencement.
The British revolution goes on apace. The Game Laws, over which so many
Parliamentary battles have been fought, were swept away in a moment this
afternoon when Captain BATHURST announced in his usual level tones that
British farmers would in future be allowed to destroy pheasants with as
little compunction as if they were rabbits, and with no regard to the
sacredness of close-time.
After this momentous announcement, which transforms (subject to the opinion
of the law-officers) every tenant-farmer into a pheasant-proprietor,
Members took a little time to recover their breath. But some of them were
soon hard at work again heckling the Government over the multiplication of
new departments and secretariats. Mr. SWIFT MACNEILL, whose reverence for
the Constitution (save in so far as it applies to Ireland) knows no bounds,
could hardly contain his fury at the setting up of a War Cabinet--"a body
utterly unknown to the law"--and the inclusion therein of Ministers without
portfolios but with salaries.
[Illustration: THE GREAT PUSH. CONGESTION ON THE TREASURY BENCH.]
He received a certain amount of rather gingerly support from Mr. RUNCIMAN
and Mr. SAMUEL, who had evidently not forgotten what happened to Mr.
MCKENNA yesterday. Mr. SAMUEL was a distinguished Member of a Government
under which both the Ministry and the bureaucracy were swollen in
peace-time to unprecedented size; but that did not prevent him from
complaining that under the present _régime_ the Administration had been
further magnified until, if all its members, including Under-Secretaries,
were present, they would fill not one but three Treasury Benches. Already
it is a much-congested district at Question-time and is the daily scene of
a Great Push.
If underlying these criticisms there was a hope that they would draw the
PRIME MINISTER from the seclusion of his private room, it was doomed to
disappointment. Mr. BONAR LAW, asserting his position as Leader of the
House, and not, as some people seemed to imagine, the PRIME MINISTER'S
deputy, made a spirited defence of the new Ministerial arrangements as
being essential for the conduct of the War, and challenged his opponents,
if they wanted to make sure of the PRIME MINISTER'S presence, to move a
Vote of Censure.
At Question-time Mr. LAW had instructed the House how to discover the
emblems on the new Treasury Note--the rose, the thistle, the shamrock and
the daffodil (this last for Wales). On the Treasury Bench the daffodil is
rarely to be descried; but the thistle is in full bloom all the time.
_Wednesday, February 14th_.--To-day the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
bore a message from the KING in reply to the Address. The House on these
occasions is apt to be less interested in the message than in the
messenger, and watches eagerly to see if he will trip in his backward march
from the Chair, or forget one of the customary three bows. The present
holder of the office does his work so featly and with such obvious
enjoyment as to give a new significance to the phrase ... "With nods and
BECKS and wreathèd smiles."
Most of us only remember the late King THEBAW of Burma as a bloodthirsty
and dissipated despot. It has been reserved for Sir JOHN REES to find a
redeeming feature in his character. Among all his crimes, he never, it
seems, prohibited the consumption of drink in his realm, though I fancy
that his own efforts in that line considerably reduced the amount available
for his subjects. Implored by the hon. Member not to turn Burma into a
"dry" State, Mr. CHAMBERLAIN would say nothing more than that he declined
(very properly) to take THEBAW as his model.
No Leader of the House, perhaps, since Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE'S time has
occupied a more difficult position than Mr. BONAR LAW. But he is daily
becoming more at home in the saddle, and can even venture upon a joke or
two. Mr. PRINGLE opposed the suspension of the Eleven-o'clock Rule on the
ground, _inter alia_, that "he only wanted to get away." "That," said Mr.
LAW suavely, "is a result which can easily be attained," and the House,
which is getting a little weary of Mr. PRINGLE'S frequent and acidulated
interposition, noted his discomfiture with approving cheers.
_Thursday, February 15th_.--Lord CURZON, in a happy phrase, described the
late Duke of NORFOLK as "diffident about powers which were in excess of the
ordinary." Is not that true of the British race as a whole? Only now, under
the stress of a long-drawn-out conflict, is it discovering the variety and
strength of its latent forces.
There are, of course, exceptions to this rule--strong men who are fully
conscious of their strength. Lord MIDLETON, for example, who sought a
comprehensive return of all the buildings commandeered and staffs employed
by the multifarious new Ministries, and was told that to provide it would
put too great a strain on officials fully engaged on work essential to
winning the War, promptly replied that if the Government would give him
access to their books he would draw up a return in a couple of days. Either
the evil has been greatly exaggerated or Lord MIDLETON is a
super-statistician for whose services another hotel or two ought to be
immediately secured.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Officer_. "I DON'T THINK MUCH OF THAT CORPORAL, SERGEANT."
_Sergeant_. "THAT'S ALL RIGHT, SIR; HE'S IN FOR A COMMISSION."]
* * * * *
"Black billy, 11 months, dam good milker; 10s."--_The Bazaar_.
It's no use swearing; we simply don't believe it.
* * * * *
"This week three crows had landed at Cardiff who had been sunk by
submarines twice, and in some cases three times."--_Manchester
Guardian._
If only they had stayed in the crow's-nest this might not have happened.
* * * * *
"Matrimony.--Gentleman coming into means desires to correspond with
Lady having means; this is genuine."--_Scotch Paper_.
But suppose she won't have him; would he be "coming into means" then?
* * * * *