It. is necessary that the accommodation and amenities provided for
the Press and strangers should be considerably extended ; but it is also right that upon the floor of the House itself the former dimensions should be maintained. To provide for further rows of benches would, during an unimportant debate, give to the House a most forlorn appearance ; whereas the sight of Members standing at the bar or crouching on the steps of the gangway gives• to important debates an added sense of occasion. Thus in its main lines the new Chamber will be much the same as the old. Certain minor innovations were suggested, but on consideration discarded. Major Milner, for instance, drew attention to the physical embarrass- ment caused to inexperienced Members, when they catch the Speaker's eye, by not having in front of them any ledge or barrier on which to rest their trembling hands or behind which to conceal their shaking knees. It may well be that the incomparable nervous- ness which assails all but the toughest Members when addressing the House is partly due to the denuded feeling aroused by all lack of frontage or support. Yet the provision of desks such as exist in most continental assemblies leads, on calm days, to the Chamber being turned into a writing-room and at moments of storm to the desks being slammed and banged in rage ; it is better that future legislators should have to suffer from physical embarrassment than that the provision of desks to each seat should tempt them either to inattention or riot.
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