he position of working men. Mr. Mundella wanted to get power for the
Board of Trade to regulate the hours of labour among poor railway men.
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach--who burnt his fingers over Stationmaster
Hood--rushed up after Mr. Mundella had sate down--to claim a portion of
the credit for this beneficial change. Here, again, the Opposition
showed that meekness which has come over its temper. For six years the
Tories were in office, but there was no Bill. The moment he was out, Sir
Michael was full of the best intentions. But his attempt to get credit
for other men's work was vain; for he counted without Mr. Bartley--the
gentleman whom North Islington sends to Parliament for the purpose of
impeding all useful legislation. And that Bill also was delayed.

[Sidenote: The government and private members.]

There is always something foredoomed about a night which ends in a
count-out. You can almost feel its untimely end in the air at the very
beginning of the sitting. There is always a great to-do about doing away
with the privileges of the private member, but I have never really seen
anything like a strong desire on the part of the House generally to keep
the small quorum together which is necessary for giving the private
member his opportunity. To the uninitiated, it is perhaps necessary to
say that the sittings of the House are divided into two classes--what
are called Government and what are called private members' nights.
Government nights are Mondays and Thursdays. On these days, the
Government is entirely master of the time of the House. They can bring
on Government Bills and in whatever order they please. On Tuesdays and
on Wednesdays the private member is master of the situation--that is to
say, until the Government of the day get leave of the House to take all
its time, and then the rights of private members disappear. On Fridays
also the private member is in possession of most of the time of the
sitting. That is the night on which the Government sets up Supply--that
is to say, puts down the votes for the money required for the public
service. It is a fundamental principle of the British Constitution that
the demand for money involves the right to raise any grievance; and
accordingly Supply on Friday night is always preceded by motions in
reference to any subject which any member may desire to raise. These
motions are put on the paper, but so inherent is the right to raise any
grievance before giving money, that