THE SPIRIT OF PARLIAMENT.
The Spirit of Parliament. By Duncan Schwann, M.P. (Alston Rivers. 3s. (3d. net.)—Mr. Schwann seems to have observed keenly, and to have learnt much during his Parliamentary life, which does not, we think, date from very far back. He shows himself capable of considering both sides of a question, and he is evidently disposed to make common-sense and the practical the ultimate test by which all political action is to be tried. The "Problem of Party" is one of the chapters in which this characteristic is especially prominent. It is something that makes for efficiency that it is necessary to answer a question with a bald " Yes " or "No." A man would often wish, and not without good reason, to add conditions and provisions, but the Division Lobby forbids. The party system leads politicians into inconsistencies and illogicalities ; but it works, and the " group " system does not. It is a shrewd observation that the very form of our Chambers of Parliament tends to perpetuate it. A man must sit on one side or the other. In a circular building he may edge away in one direction or the other. The cross-benches afford just such mitigation of the arrangement as makes it endurable. We are not surprised that Mr. Schwann fails to do justice to the political utility of the House of Lords. It has many defects, but it has the great merit that it can save the people from themselves. Does Mr. Schwann seriously believe that the crowd which was sent up to Westminster at the last General Election represented the real permanent convictions of the nation op all questions of policy? It is easy enough to see how and why they got there, and not difficult to foretell that many will never come again. Had this accidental majority the right to do what could never have been undone ?
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