THE SINS OF LEGISLATORS, 13 



adopted by a highly influential meeting held under the chairmanship 

 of the late Lord Lyttelton, I read : 



We, the undersigned, peers, members of the House of Commons, rate-pay- 

 ers, and inhabitants of the metropolis, feeling strongly the truth and force of 

 your statement made in the House of Commons, in 1866, that " there is still 

 a lamentable and deplorable state of our whole arrangements, with regard to 

 public works — vacillation, uncertainty, costliness, extravagance, meanness, and 

 all the conflicting vices that could be enumerated, are united in our present 

 system," etc., etc.* 



And here again is an example furnished by a recent minute of the 

 Board of Trade (November, 1883), in which it is said that since " the 

 Shipwreck Committee of 1836 scarcely a session has passed without 

 some act being passed or some step being taken by the Legislature or 

 the Government with this object " (prevention of shipwreck) ; and 

 that " the multiplicity of statutes, which were all consolidated into 

 one act in 1854, has again become a scandal and a reproach " — each 

 measure being passed because previous ones had failed. And then 

 comes presently the confession that " the loss of life and of ships has 

 been greater since 1876 than it ever was before." Meanwhile, the 

 cost of administration has been raised from £17,000 a year to £73,000 

 a year.f 



It is surprising how, spite of better knowledge, the imagination is 

 affected by artificial appliances used in particular ways. We see it 

 all through human history, from the war-paint with which the savage 

 frightens his adversary, down through religious ceremonies and regal 

 processions, to the robes of a Speaker and the wand of an ofl[icially- 

 dressed usher. I remember a child who, able to look with tolerable 

 composure on a horrible cadaverous mask while it was held in the 

 hand, ran away shrieking when his father put it on. A kindred change 

 of feeling comes over constituencies when, from boroughs and coun- 

 ties, their members pass to the legislative chamber. While before 

 them as candidates, they are, by one or other party, jeered at, lam- 

 pooned, "heckled," and in all ways treated with utter disrespect. 

 But, as soon as they assemble at Westminster, those against whom 

 taunt and invective, charges of incompetence and folly, had been show- 

 ered from press and platform, excite unlimited faith. Judging from 

 the prayers made to them, there is nothing which their wisdom and 

 their power can not compass. 



* The "Times," March 31, ISTS. 



f These are just a few additional examples. Masses of those which I have on earlier 

 occasions given will be found in " Social Statics " (1851); "Over-Legislation" (1853); 

 "Representative Government" (185Y); "Specialized Administration" (1871); "Study 

 of Sociology " (1873), and Postscript to ditto (1880) ; besides some cases in smaller es- 

 says. 



[To he continued.'\ 



