NEWS OF THE WEEK.
PARLIAMENT meets •on Tuesday, but it may be doubted if business will begin. The Tories as a party have given notice that they will propose an amend- ment to the Address upon Egypt ; Mr. Parnell will cen- sure the suppression of Nationalist meetings in Ulster ; and the Fourth Party will condemn the promise to reduce the franchise. Egypt, Ireland, and the Franchise will, therefore, all be discussed before the regular debates upon those subjects begin. Besides these amendments, there will be at least a dozen smaller ones, the object being, if possible, to postpone business till March. A new Speaker must then be elected, and what with questions, amendments, desultory discussions, and the .chapter of accidents, it is hoped that a fourth of the Session may pass without anything being done. It is quite possible that this hop t5 may be realised. There is no remedy whatever, so long as the speakers obey the New Rules, except in the action of the 'coast? .encies, and they have not the will to dismiss the Parnell- ites: r the power to punish the Members for pocket boroughs, who are answerable for most of the obstruction. We can only trust that the scene will be closely watched by the nation, and that reporters will record daily in figures the amount of time deliberately wasted by each obstructive.
