Mr. Chamberlain, however, cannot quite control this House, nor can
anybody except Mr. Gladstone. Even he was nearly defeated when resisting, on Monday, a motion by Mr. Vincent, which he took to mean a demand that the capitation grant to Volunteers should be increased. He read the House a much- needed Constitutional lecture against voting money not asked for by the Executive, but he was very nearly defeated, Mr. Vincent's proposal being only rejected by 187 to 166. This kind of in- discipline is becoming too frequent, and the odd thing about it is that the House, as a whole, is not guilty. The " wild " votes are rarely carried in a House of 300, the truth appar- ently being that only the new Members attend, and that they are eager to pass anything to fulfil promises to sections of their constituents. The House will " lick down " by-and-by, but the present suspense caused by the delay of the Irish project is fertile of votes injurious to the character of Parliament.
Previous page
