M.P.’s Off Their Guard.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 385, 9 April 1902, Page 2

M.P.’s Off Their Guard.

— 1 ' heroes on debate whose ATTITUDES ARE • ANYTHING BUT HEROIC. .... jEohcfijdpd.j Like Mr Asquith, Sir Edward Grey is the embodiment of conventional propriety as he sits oh the front Opposition bench. No attempt to fmitafe Mr Ballotfr’s sprawling ‘ ipdolen'cp' js made bv either leader of the Liberal Imperialists. Sir Edward Grey has a curious habit of renting with his elbow on''f,he'taJ}le and at the same time of pointing an cgtstrefpheg undex-finger at the hon, member to whom he is replying. This was the mostcharacteristic attitude of Mr Gladstone, and Sir Edward stands alone in the House of Commons to-day in beiog able to em"W the same trick without recalling the

greater figure with which it is assuciaieu. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, rotund, comfortable and complaisant, sits in one invariable pcfsitiohj 'Strangely similar, fq that of Lord Salisbury in the Lords,' Mr Morley, metaphorically speaking, hugs himself in the furthest corner of the front Opposition bench. He has a more awkward manner of addressing the House than even the youngest member. The easiest style of speaking undoubtedly, next to the Colonial Secretary’s is that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach never shocks the public by adopting free and easy attitudes on the Treasury bench. Jfe sits sti|J-and rigid and strokes his beard as he listens to the other Ministers. Tbe most dejected manner of ail has been cultivated by Lord George Hamilton. With head down, both elbows resting upon his knees, he fixes bis eyes on the ground and amuses himself by tearing sheets of white paper into pellets, which are shot underneath the table.