4
"THE FIRST COMMONER."
SOME NOTES ON THE SPEAKER OF THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS, THE METHOD
OF HIS ELECTION AND HIS
PREROGATIVES.
As the first duty of the new Parliament just
elected will be to choose a new Speaker, a few
notes concerning this important office, the holder
of which bears by virtue of a statute enacted
several centuries ago the title of "The First
Commoner in the Land," may be of timely in
terest. The Speaker of the House of Commons
is one of the most powerful personages of the
British Empire. For the latter is governed by
Parliament, representing the will of the people,
and by Ministers of State, representing the
majority of votes in the National legislature,
and it is th« Speaker who is the authority over
Parliament -that is to say, over the most im
portant part thereof, namely, the House of Com
mons. He can suspend a member; be can stop
the Prime Minister on a point of procedure; he
can close a debate; he can decide the most mo
mentous constitutional questions by a few
words spoken in private conference behind the
chair; he can overrule the Cabinet on points
which may be vital to its policy, and which
may either enhance or discredit the authority
in the House, and it is he alone who decides who
is to speak and who is to remain silent. No
Secretary of State, not even the First Lord of
the Treasury, who holds the title of "leader of
the House," is able to speak in Parliament with
out having obtained the permission of "The First
Commoner in the Land" by means of the pe
culiar process known as "catching the Speaker's
eye."
There is no optic in the world that has played
so important a part in history as the "eye" of
the Speaker. its power and rights are not
based on any written law, but on long estab
lished custom and tradition. Often several mem
bers rise in their places at once, endeavoring to
arrest the wandering optic of the Speaker, and
it is then free to that august functionary to
make his selection and to indicate the member
who has his permission to speak. While he gen
erally concedes priority to new comers who are
about to address the House for the first time,
yet he is so impartial in the performance of this
particular duty that, within the memory of the
present generation at any rate, no Speaker of
the House of Commons has been taxed with
unfairness. Of course, this antiquated method
Is attended by many disadvantages, and it often
happens that members are prevented from ad
dressing the House for weeks together and de
barred from taking any part in the debate
owing to their failure to "catch the Speaker's
eye."
Failing eyesight is an almost Insuperable
bar to the retention of the Speakership, and it
was solely on this ground that Speaker Brand,
one of the most remarkable .»•< upants of th>
otlice in the reign of Queen Victoria, was com
pelled to resign.
HOW THE SPEAKER IS CHOSEN.
The manner in which the Speaker is elected
at the opening of a new Parliament is as fol
lows: On the day appointed by royal proclama
tion for the meeting of the newly elected Legis
liture the members assemble in the House i f
Commons, the Speaker's chair remaining empty,
and the mace of office being under, instead of
on, the table. A few minutes after 2 o'clock
that is the usual hour for the ceremony the
doorkeeper announces "Black R< d. " and the
latter, who is the principal executive official of
the House of Lords, enters, and with a num
ber of bows to the Speaker's empty chair, in
vites "this honorable House" to repair "to an
other place" to hear the reading of the Royal
Commission by means of which Parliament is
opened. He then retin-p. bowing thrice, an 1 is
followed by the chief clerk of the liaise of
Commons, a Queen's Counsel, wearing the \vii_-.
the silk robes, the queer fashioned coat, black
knee breeches and silk stockings of his office,
and by most of the members of Parliament, who
take up their position at the bar of the House
of Lords and listen to the reading of the Com
mission opening the new Parliament The
Royal Commissioners, consisting of the Lord
High Chancellor and four other peers, arrayed
In the scarlet and ermine barred robes of their
rank, are seated in a line on the woolsack in
front uf the Throne. At the conclusion ( ,f the
reading of the Sovereign's message the Com
mons flock Lack to the Lower Chamber. After
they have taken their places the clerk of the
House, sitting at the table below the Speaker's
empty chair, rises and silently points three
lingers at the chief n pr< .-• ntatlve i f the admin
istration, known as the leader of the House.
The latt.-r thereupon rises and proposes the
election to the Speakership of Borne candidate
whose name has usually been already agreed
upon jointly by the leaders of the administration
party and of the Opposition, the chief of the
latter, In accordance with time h no red usage,
seconding the nomination.
Seldom certainly not within tho memory of
the present generation— has there been a full
fledged contest for the office of Speaker. For
the Government party, conscious ol its numerical
superiority, always endeavors to secure a candi
date who will be acceptable* to if..- minority, bo
that there may be no question as to the Im
partiality of the Chair. It has often happened
•Aat the Speaker, by the wish and consent of the
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
party in power, lias been Belected from the
ranks of the Opposition, If there is no objection
raised to the candidate thus nominated, the
clerk of the House after the lapse of two min
utes as indicated by the sand glass on the table
before him. arises from his seat at the table
and without uttering a word points three fingers
at the nominee. The latter then rises from his
seat and. addressing the clerk of the House by
name, expresses his appreciation of the honor
conferred upon him. requesting that he may
have the support of every member, "without
which the Speaker can do nothing, but having
which there is little be cannot do."
THK PORMALJTIKS CfW INDUCTION.
As soon as he has <-<>ncluded his little address
the leader of the Government smiles across the
body of the House to the leader of the Opposi
tion, whereupon both arise from their places and
conduct the Speaker-elect to the speaker's chair.
Standing before the latter under its canopy, and
facing the chair, he beckons to the Sergeant-at-
Amis, who. taking the mace of ofiice from be
neath the table, places it on the latter, the
members on both sides of the Boose having
risen to their feet. As soon as the mace has
been placed on th-- table the Speaker, no longer
••.•let," but duly inducted, gives a signal to the
members to reseat themselves. Then the leader
of the Government party delivers a brief speech
of congratulation, in response to which the
Speaker "unreservedly places himself in the
hands of the House." Then, as people arc just
beginning to wonder what will happen next, the
Speaker rises again and in his official voice, a
distinctly different and more authoritative or
gan than that employed during the earlier
proceedings, exclaims: "The question is that this
House will now adjourn." No objection being
taken, the Speaker leaves th.' chair, and when
he ri"xt resumes it does so no longer in plain
street dress, but arrayed in the r ,.i>,.s and full
bottomed wta of his office.
Th« i office of Speaker carries with it a mag
nificent official residence in the northern towers
of the Palace of Westminster, the bright and
lofty rooms l> Ing lighted with great w'nrlows
<■> mmandmg \i> -.^s of the Thames. Besides this
residence the Speaker receives a salary <>f .*.".!»,
000 a year and allowances amounting to almost
as much more. <>n retiring he receives a pension
of (20,000 a year for the remainder <>f his life.
Moreover, it is the prerogative <>f each Speaker
of the House of Commons to receive the offer
of a peerage and \ scat in the House of Lords
on his retirement.
When the House is in session th ■ Speaker
gives a series of official banquets and levees.
These air stately affairs, and the gentlemen
who attend them "are expected to appear either
In uniform i r in Court dress, the ordinary even-
Ing dress being strictly tabooed.'- The Speak
himself receives his gu Ms in a black Court suit,
wearing a steel h'lted sword, and is attended
by his trainbearer, his pursebearer, his gentle
man in waiting and his chaplain. The Speaker's
banquets tak.- place ii. the state dining room,
the panelled walls of which are adorned with
full length portraits of recent Speakers in their
robes of office. The long table and the hug--
sideboard are loaded down with magnificent old
plate, some of it constituting part of the loot
taken from the Spanish Armada in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, and belonging 1 e?:-officio to the
Speaker of the House of Common.-.
MR. GULLY WEARY OK THE CHAIR.
It is stated in political circles in England that
the Speaker of the fourteenth Parliament of the
Victorian reign, which, elected in 1885, termi
nates its existence next Saturday week, will not
accept re-election: that he has tired of an office
which calls f< r the exercise of almost super
human patience. Fcr i<> matter what twaddle]
Is on his legs, the Speaker must give his whole
attention. He • annot slip out to the smoking
room or to the lobby. He must remain in the
chair whether bored 01 interested.
I.ik ■ sad Prometheus fastened to ;h rock.
In vain t.e looks for pity t-> the clock.
A grandson cf John Gully, who was notorious
In the early years of Queen Victoria's reign as
.1 prizefighter, bookmaker and racehorse owner,
in which latter capacity he won the Derby of
I.S-1U with Pyrrhus, the retlrirg Speak Wiii
i.im Court (Jully, has proved an unqualified suc
cess during his tenure of the office < f •The First
Commoner in the Land." The news that lie has
refused to serve again has been received with
keen regret and with the expression of .-• hope
that he may yet be induced to reconsider his
decision. if*' has; been in every way a distin
guished occupant of th. Speaker's chair, which
has existed since the year K>7<», when Sir Thomas
Hungerford was elected as the first Speaker of
th ■ House of Commons.
<mi the long lisl c! First Comm >ners who have
directed the proceedings of the Hon»e during
nearly six centuiies which have elapsed in •
that time are to b found the nam s .-.' Thonn is
Chaucer, son of the poet, who w.is Speaker in
the reign of King Henry IV; Sir Th m:s M. r. .
Sergeant Selverton, who in tta< prayer with
which !.'• v.-;i;- wont to open the proceedings
each «ny reverently besoughi the Almighty ";o
ts)f\ darknera » r i • i vanity from our mir..;.-. and
partiality from our sp< cchef";3 f "; WHKam Lenthal,
who was renowned aa the Speaker of the Hi .■-■■■
in the reiim of Charles I; Henrj Addington, who
was Speaker In the closing years of ilv las:
century, and last, but by no means least, Vi.
< (iint Pi ■ I
The Speaker can take no pan in debated. Me
l.:i« n i vote except in one circumstance- namely,
when the numbers ar> equal. Then he has the
deciding vote, and n wa.- by a vote of this kind
that the Act of Setttenw Dl was passed, by virtue
of which Que.n Victoria occupies Ihe throne ol
the British Kmpire. XX ATTACHK.
SO-CALLED IBASDOSED FARMS.
A l.Kf-KM'KK OF TIIK NKW- X.V ;I.AM - « '"I H
mOM Till-: CHABBK OF lii:- Al'KN.i:.
I
From The Country Gentleman.
Something of the character ol any section
country may »>•■ judged of -uessed by glin ;
caught from th.- windows of a swiftly moving
railway train. Hut a leisurely carriage rid.
fotds much better opportunities for obsi
tion. By this experience the writer has leal
the real conditions existing in Eastern Con
necticut, throughout localities to whah railway
trains have never penetrated. Here are I
found many of the so-called "abandoned" fa
such aa furnish ;i theme for the mournful SCI
about the "decadence" of New-KmrJand. it is j
true there is a melancholy suggestrceness about
an ancient, uatenaated farmhouse, nut among
the lonely hills, with no companion dwellings In
siuht. The stepping stones are moassjrown, the
thresholds decayed; the doors falling fr..m rust
ed hinges. Squirrels leap in at the broken
panes and stamper through the empty charal
Only ghostly revisitants now gather round the
crumbling fireplace. All this is sad. indeed, and
s.> it is. maybe, to visit th.- once splendid man- j
si. ris of New-York's Bleecker-st., now "aban
doned" to uses of traase and storage.
The distinction between abandoned bouses aa 1 '
abandoned farms may not be noted by a sui
ftcial observer. The farms ar.- not. stri
speaking; abandoned in one instance in a nun
dred; many farmhouses are. While house and
farm buildings arc left uncared for. some tokens
may usually be discovered, showing that the
farm is noi entirely neglected. Somebody's
tind pasture un it. Perhaps romebody still ■
a little hay here and there and takes it away
to his home farm. Sometimes persistent trees
in the old orchard continue to yield, and there'
are always hands to gather the fruit if it is
worth gathering. When little .-is.- seemingly
remains, and the farm reverts to forest, some-;
body stands ready to glean the ultimate hai
of lumber, wood and charcoal.
It is in sop,, s.it a fashion of the time to
regard the abandoned farmhouses a< tokens of
failure and misfortune t. Individuals, and
lectively, of calamity t«. the State The matter
may be resrardi d in another light. The first
road builders, or pathfinders, of Connecticut;
had v.iy pe. uliar notions. Take, as an mi
i . th ai cienl turnpike load from Hartford
to Boston, although thai was not the first road
built, by any means. Like others, it was laid I
"tit it' a Straight line, up, over and down th. ■
hills. Th. early wttlfrs are said to nave built
on th. summits of hills, to be better able to note
the approach ■ f hostil Indiana Their de
sc ndanta follow* d ihe custom without having
the same reason for it. Thus it happens that
very many of th (tides) bouses in th.- farming
sections of Eastern Connecticut stand on the
tops of hills. These house locations were exposed
and bleak, work on ihe bill farms was hard and
don< ;.t a disadvantage, but worse than aught
plsv was their isolation. This was not so much'
regarded in the >lden times. Bui aa cities |
and villages increased in siz ■ and number the
loneliness of these ut of the way bouses was'
emphasized. Farmers cnuW make a living
the back hill farms, but they became ambitious
lo more, and In order to accomplish this
th.;. must ;: t nearer the markets. Their wives
ant daughters pined f><v th,- social advanta
'" ' njoyed i: arer the cities and villagea
The Western emigration fever swept over
Mew-England and carried u\\u> many far;
from their ancestral homes. Among ihe back
hill and long distance farmers of Eastern Con
necticut discontent inert asfd. and many re
moved toother farms in mer< favored local
within the State. Some sold their farms, some
leased them, and others, unable to do either,
tht in in charge of neighbors In time these
neighbors often became their owners. Thus'
thes, farms, although neglected and unculti
vated, were never utterly abandoned, and are
tol at ih. pies hi time.
These chans s. broughi about naturally and
reasonably, offer..! no foundation for the charge
, upon v. hit h ihi change s ai
P rsisi ntlj rung. Farmtrs did not leave their
farn s on account of sterility. Thej
exhausted, as has been proved by man) wh..
have reoceupied them. Wealthy people who
buy th' m to live upon in lummi r do not find
them unfertile. With electric cars, telephones
and other agencies of modern progress, the for
mer objection to living upon these out of the
way farms is fast being done awaj with and'
in' good tiny they will all be r peopled
CORXEYILLE CITS ITS VUtMES .1/ LAST.
I'r.ii- correspondence of The London Standard.
About a year ago the fa. t was noted in "The
Standard" that. th. ugh the ex mic opera "L«es
Cloches de Corneville" enjoyed a wor Id w id. rep
utation, the tillage ihunh of Corneville in Nor
mandy, as a matter ..f fact, did not poss
belfry or peal of bells. The Marquis de la
Rochethult n. the survivor uf the family who
furnished the hero of the Brittany legend and
a committee proposed lo remedy this d< feel l>>
raising funds in all parts of the world where
Planquette's tuneful work had i.i-en performed
They have now completed their task, in so far aa
collecting the funds are concerned, and the
bells, which arc being casi by Paccard Brothers
the founders of the Savoyarde, the big bell
which exists in Paris, are to he inaugurated on
September "t>. The i>eul consists of twelve bells
and will play (he well known air from ih.- opera.
As a recognition of the generous response which
the request for subscriptions met with in all
parts of the wor d. each of the bells h..
after a cnuairj or pro\ in. .- Thi
bell will bear the title La Nonnandie. The other
bells will bear the title* of Th.- Canadian The
Dane, The Russian, The Swede. The American
The Algerian, The Savoy. The Auvergne Th-
Britisher, Tfc.- Cretan and The Saint* Germaine
after the name of the heroine of the opera. In
connection with the inauguration of the bells
Ul in ■ rganized in the old Normandy vil
lage, including, of curse. n gala performs i
the opera.
EQUALITY.
Prom The Rocky Mountain News.
Riggs Will you be ah»e to vote your wife this
election?
Digg* On the contrary. I shall not vote ray
self. She has figured it up that her sister's tin
wedding is to i,,. celebrated in an adjoining
county on Election Day, and haS decided that
affair*,'' 1 '' 1 " 'd ° " an ' ! '"* " iy V " : ' '" "'' public
"Might just as well, If I don t go she will
stay at home nd K Vote opposite m, at the poT "
She can kill both raj vol.- and my voice any
IN SAMARKAND.
THE ATHENS OF ASIA A THOUSAND
YEARS A«O AS iT IS TO-DAY.
H»nry Norman, in The London Chronicle.
The Central Asia of yesterday lives almost un
altered in the cities of Bokhara and Samar
kand. The whole world has only two more in
teresting cities than the latter — Ath^nH and
Rome, and indeed this was the Athens of A*ia
nearly a thousand years ago. Its cron?«-ru;ive
history, however. goes back twice as far as that,
for it was destroyed by Alexander the <lr.-a.t.
Genghiz Khan razed it at th. be«inr.ir.g tit the
thirteenth century, and Tarm-rlant- rebuilt it
and adorned it with the- superb buildings wh'ise
tottering ruins are still magnificf-nt t<»-<iay,
Russia's ownership of it dates only fr;im ISO.
Between the railway and the native city ia
th- Russian town, embnwcrnl in tref s. the Oov
ernor's residence being a lart' and hands<\rr>e
structure in spacious grounds surrounded by a
wall. Next in size is the ctub. or c&si:.'', ik»
only place where a decent dinner can l~- had,
for the only hotels for visitors are rertai:: 'nu
mcra," or furnished rooms, wfcT«> the accommo
dation is wretched and the cooking worse. The
club, on the other hand, which ia maintained
solely by the officers of th** garrison, with an
official subsidy, is spacious? and comfortable,
with excellent cooking, perfect service by mili
tary orderlies, reading rooms, billiard ror:. md
a large ballroom.
( may cite my experience h«-r»- as a typical
example of Russian hospitality to strangers.
When I saw how miserably uncomfortable : araa
going to l>e in the "numera" I cast about fcr
some relief. 1 knew nobody in Samarkand, h-.it
I decided to try my luck at the club. So I
boldly entered and ask^d who was the chief
official. I was told that a certain captain «.:>
officer of the day, but he was out. Was any
officer in the club? Yes. U"utrn:»ru.s So-and-so
and So-and-so were playing billiards. "Then, 1 I
said, "please take my card to one of them." In
a moment a young officer came ou:, antl I apolo
gized for disturbing him. proved my respl !a
bility by showing him my official letter*, ex
plained that Samarkand, outside the crab <iid
not afford a decent meal to a traveller, and
begged, therefore, that I might be allowed :he
use of the club during ■ brief stay. "With
great pleasure." was hLs instant reply. ar.<} he
at once entered my name a awl that of my inter
preter, a young Russian gentleman who accom
panied me every/where; in the members' booh;
wits his own name and another officer's as in
troducers.
So for several days I took all my meals in
company with Russian officers, waited up.^n by
Russian soldiers, and treated in even.' respect
with the most perfect and even friendly cour
tesy. And this, mind you. while every liu.«?»?an
paper was tilled with abuse of England ani
lying stories, implicitly believed by every Trader.
to our discredit. I nope that a Russian stranger
would be not less hospitably received at t re
mote British military station.
Samarkand .- a large city, mud colored, like
; all th. Eaj-t, but it is surrounded by a rolling
fertile country, and high above its houses tower
| the. glorious domes and portals and minarets of
I the handiwork of Tamerlane. The great market
| :'a •• of the city, called the RigistaK, baa three
o: these for its three sides— the Mahomi vsn col
leges called Shir l>ar. the Lion bearing; Ti'a
Kari. the golden, and that si ITlus Beg", the
astronomer and grandson of Tameilare. The
facades of these; in the market place, consist of
a lofty arch, flanked by Hut- ■■! domes and ex
quisite slender towers. The whole constructed of
g'u^fcJ tiles in several colors, a delicious Persian
blue predominating— the blue of the Blu*r
Mosque of Cairo. The Tila Kari still retail
some «f the gold with which it was spread, ar.cl
high above the gateway of the Shir Par may
still be seen huge emblems in once brilliant
tiles of the Lion and the Sun of Persia.
Behind the facade of each madrassa is a ra\>-d
courtyard, with a fountain and a few tree.-s and
all around are the cells of the scholars and the
imams. Time and earthquakes have wrought
destruction, the port. are brjken, some of the
minarets are without tops, square yards of tiles
have fallen off. rubbish heaps have been formed
of the debris, but still the ma^ninienc- of these
great structures persists, and I know no more
impressive and picturesque sigh than this gr-at
market, crowded with stalls and shouting buy
ers and sellers, while high above and ail ap-und
the human ant heap stand these vast archi
tectural splendors of an age Ion? past, the note
of heavenly blue dominating ail. The man who
built them lies not far off. under another splen
did dome. behind another p... v-.-lain fa<;a«i'\ nt
the end t>f another long avenue.
On the ground level is an octagonal ehair.^'.
and within a kin.i of fen- of pierced alat><t^Pr
are several oblong stones, chief among th^-m a
gieat block of dark green, almost black. ja<!e,
said to be the largest in the world. Directly be
neath this, in the vault bt-low. was Tamerlane
laid six hundred years ago. one or two of his
councillors around him. Some rough repairs
have been made in the walls and dome of this
strut lure, and indeed it would be a crime to
allow so memorable a spot to fall into d-<-:iy.
but on the whole the Russians have done al
most nothing to keep these splendid structures
intact. They do strictly forbid th-.* selling of
the blue till but thirty y.-ars after they came
here an earthquake wrought destruction, and
the plies of brick and mortar and ■smashed tiUs
lie just as they fell.
One of the most beautiful domes of Samar
kand, that of the Mosque Tamerlane.* boOt for
bis spouse, the daughter of the Emperor »f
China, has a hut open rift across it. and may
collapse at any moment. The cost of preserva
tion would not be great, and it is surprising that
some archaeological society in Russia does not
undertake the task Which* the Government ii v >i.3
strangely neglects.
77//: KAISER'S >■ \i< ;iu nun.
From The London Globe.
A clergyman who has just returned from a
tour in Germany tills the following story in th-_'
current issue of "M. A. P." At a puppet shew
held some tim-.* ago in that country the pro
prietor gave what he considered to be th»- chii f
characteristics of the three famous men v. ho
have occupied the exalted position of German
Emperor— -William I. Frederick 111, and re
present Kaiser. William 11. "Kaiser William."
said thi^ public entertainer, "will ever be remem
bered by his savins. "I hive nt» time t>> Ik*
we.,, • The Kmperor Frederick's m<«t charac
teristic utterance will undoubtedly be for ail
ages. 'Learn to suffer without complalningl* And
the sen' illustrious rjler will ever he insep
arably associated with h.s familiar expression,
'Augusta ' pack the trunks!* " I?ut the enterprise
ing shown-, ins remarks wen- reckoned by the
law an insult to His Imperial Majesty. ur«? the
« trending sprahv* haU la pay lac penalty of twu
xaonths' imprisonment for his temerity.