Constable. "On the contrary, Sir, you're a day too early."
[The Constable was in error. He should have said a week.]
Monday, April 17th.—The hon. Member who described the present Parliamentary situation as "a cabal every afternoon and a crisis every second day" is justified of his epigram. The lobbies this afternoon were full of agitated whisperers, with much talk of a divided Cabinet and this and that Minister on the brink of resignation, because they cannot agree upon the number of men they want for the Army or the best method of obtaining them. All of which must be very comforting to our enemies.
Some anxiety is felt on the Treasury Bench owing to the marked shortage of Members from Ireland. Hitherto, whenever the Government has seemed to be in danger, Mr. Redmond's followers have trooped over from Dublin to the rescue. But to-day most of them are absent. Some attribute their defection to chagrin at their shortsightedness in resisting the appointment of Mr. Campbell as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. As Attorney-General they fear he will exert a much more potent influence in Irish affairs.
Faithful among the faithless, Mr. Ginnell was in his place. He is not interested in the troubles of the British Government. His present obsession is the alleged over-taxation of his own beloved country. In order that he might have due verge and scope to expatiate upon that grievance be pressed the Prime Minister to arrange an early sitting on Wednesday and also to suspend the eleven o'clock rule. At this naïve suggestion the House relieved its tension with a hearty laugh.
How much truth there may be in the stories of Ministerial dissension I do not know; but there is undoubtedly a Cave on the Treasury Bench. In the absence of the Chancellor he took charge of the Report Stage of the Finance Bill, and very well he acquitted himself. Incidentally the Solicitor-General had the honour of bringing about a notable reconciliation. Among the few occupants of the Nationalist benches were Mr. Dillon and Mr. Timothy Healy, who for some years past have rarely met without a collision. Accordingly when Mr. Dillon had resisted a proposal to fine any visitor to an entertainment who did not pay the Amusements-tax, it was confidently expected that Mr. Healy would find excellent reasons for asserting that this was the best clause in the whole Bill, and that only a melancholy humbug would oppose it. Instead he vigorously supported his former foe with an argument that I am sure Mr. Dillon would never have thought of. "Was it not a weird proposal," he asked, "that a child who had unwittingly walked; through a turnstile should forthwith become a convict and lose its Old-Age Pension?"
Tuesday, April 18th.—When one has at last screwed up one's courage to have a tooth out, there is nothing more unnerving than to be told by the dentist that he cannot operate to-day and that one must come again to-morrow. The House of Commons felt like that this afternoon. Members had flocked from all parts of the kingdom—Nationalist Ireland excepted—to hear the Prime Minister's promised statement. Col. Churchill, Lord Hugh Cecil (with a patch on his lofty brow denoting a recent casualty), and other warrior-statesmen had reluctantly torn themselves from the attractions of the trenches to do their duty at Westminster. The Ladies' Gallery was filled to overflowing.
Then the ominous word went round, "No statement to-day." Sure enough, when the Prime Minister rose and hushed the buzz of conversation that had rendered Questions inaudible, it was merely to observe that there were still some points outstanding, that no statement would be adequate without their adjustment, and that he would therefore postpone his motion for the Easter adjournment until to-morrow. Sir Edward Carson's motion demanding compulsory service for all men of military age would, if necessary, be discussed on Thursday.
Members hastened out into the Lobby to chatter about the new phase of the crisis and to speculate as to what were the points outstanding, and whether the Minister of Munitions was or was not the prickliest of them. To the noise and flurry created by their exit Mr. McKenna owes it that his Finance Bill will appear in the Journals of the House as having been passed without a dissenting voice. Mr. Whitley, who was in the Chair, has not the commanding tones of Mr. Lowther, and when he put the question, "That this Bill be now read a Third time," nobody rose to speak. Accordingly he declared that the "Ays" had it; and though several Members then protested that they had not heard the question put, and urged that it should be put again, he politely but firmly declined to oblige them.
In an incautious moment yesterday Mr. Tennant advised Mr. Snowden to use his imagination. I should have thought the advice was superfluous, for, to judge by some of the stories that the Member for Blackburn is in the habit of retailing to the House regarding the persecution of conscientious objectors by callous N.C.O.'s, his imagination is working overtime. On the motion for the adjournment Mr. Tennant had to listen to several more of them. He was rewarded for his patience by obtaining an unexpected testimonial from Mr. King, who in his most patronising tones declared that he was sorry for the Under Secretary, who was really "a great deal better than the average man in the street."