Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/50

 place from which he may address the House. He will keep his hat on when standing at the bar, though the rule is that he can only wear his hat when seated in the Chamber. He will read a newspaper in the House. This is—as in the courts of law—another gross breach of order, and brings down on him the censure of the Speaker. He will in his first speech insist on addressing the M.P.'s and say 'Gentlemen,' in place of ignoring his fellow-members, and addressing his remarks to Mr Speaker, or simply saying 'Sir.' He will mention the previous speaker's name instead of the Member's constituency. He will greatly offend his fellow-members in his burning desire to carry his resolution by lecturing them, and reminding them of their promises to their constituents at the general election. He will be called to order for not strictly confining himself to the subject; for instance, in speaking on the Navy estimates, he will give a general survey of its deficiencies when the question is the pay of the men; or he will speak on the Post Office vote when the Telegraph service is under discussion; or on mismanagement in the War Office when the equipment of volunteers is being discussed.

"The rules for framing questions are very strict. They must not involve (1) argument, (2) opinion, (3) inference, (4) imputation, (5) irony, or (6) hypothetical cases.

"Answers to awkward questions are cleverly prepared by the expert officials, and the oldest Parliamentary hand often finds it impossible to get satisfaction. A Minister has been known to have prepared for him three different replies on a question of fact. "The common way of showing resentment to the Minister who gives an unsatisfactory or sharp answer to a question is for the aggrieved member to rise at once and make a formal speech. 'Mr Speaker, in consequence of the unsatisfactory answer, I beg to give notice that in the estimates I will call attention