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468 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
There are twenty-six of the lords spiritual, the arclibisliops of Canter
bury and York, and twenty-four bishops. The lords temporal are the
dukes, marquises, earls, viseounts, and barons, who are called peers
the realm, and they hold ojlice in the House of Lords by virtue Of the”
titles. The House of Commons is composed of ‘knights, citizens, and
burgesses,’ and comes much nearer to the general public than does tht
House of Lords. In fact, it is more powerful than the House of L01"<1S:
as it has the exclusive right to "originate all bills that impose any tip‘-‘
upon the people, directly or indirectly, including those taxes which re-
late to the support of the Government or any part of the general adiiiin-
istration. If the House of Lords does anything particularly distaste.fl11
to the Commons, the latter can generally bring it to terms by refusing
to ‘ vote the supplies,’ at least such is the theory on which many of its
members proceed.
“The members of the House of Commons receive no salaI‘.Y: 3?“
consequently Parliament is not a good place for a poor man who 111-
tends to serve his country honestly. I have already told you that the
- - - - - . ' t:
‘labor unions pay the salaries of their representatives in P11I'lliL1T1(13n.r.
-they do it by making these representatives the presidents 0f ‘D191
unions, and paying them for their services in that capacity. N0 Officer
or pensioner of the Government can sit in the House of Commons; and
if any member accepts an ofliee he thereby ceases to belong t0 the
House, and his place must be declared vacant. ,
“An American visitor to Parliament for the first time is siiI‘P“Sc(.1’
if he does hot already know of the custom, to find that the members Sit
with their hats on. This custom, as mentioned in our (lesc1'i1)ti0H of
York, comes from the time when parliaments met in the open all‘, and
the hat was necessary whether it was ornamental or not. It seems ah:
surd to-day, and the constant wearing of the hat in-doors is probably
the reason why so many of the men who sit in Parliament have lost
their hair. Bald heads are in the majority.” ,
The possible “dryness” of Frank’s essay upon the British Pi11'1“"
inent will be more than offset by the information it contains on 3 5“?
ject that will certainly be of interest to nine-tentlis of our readers. ll 9
therefore give it without abbreviation, and feel sure that it will meet
with general approval. '
But the Parliament just described is not the only one in L0Tfd0ni
There .are several mock parliaments, or debating societies, fnS1110“e(1
after the national institution in the New Palace of lVestminsteI'a fm‘
ready to discuss any question that is presented. They are of Vi1l'101l5