Nor was Lord Baldwin's advice under this heading dictated solely
by his knowledge of the special technique of self- preservation which any effective politician must acquire. It was dictated by a keen understanding of the true function- ing of democratic institutions, which entails that one side should not score off the other side either too often or too long. It is in truth amazing how much Members of Parliament will stand from each other, and there are times when the Chambet seems no more than an aquarium in which fish float and bubble but do not fight. There are moments, it is true, when the com- bative instinct of the Prime Minister tempts him to fling a barbed but friendly gibe across at his old friend Lord Winterton or drive Mr. Gallacher into sudden outbursts of voluble rage. Yet the undisguised glee with which Mr. Churchill indulges in repartee, the way in which he will bend his knees and stroke the lapels of his coat in boyish delight, the twinkle of his kindly eyes, robs these onslaughts of their venom, so that even the most truculent Member cannot but feel flattered by so comradely a snub. The calm of the aquarium is quickly established, solemn and opaque. And yet if our parliamentary courtesies savour at moments of a minuet, let us think of. their opposites. Let us remember the animosities which racked and scarred the French Chamber of Deputies until large sections of the French parda- ment thought less of defending their country than of beating Blum, or the yells of hatred which greeted the dying Strese- mann when he climbed the steps of the tribune with the dew of agony on his brow. Here again Lord Baldwin was correct.
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