(MR. H.E.  DUKE, K.C.)]

Half the sitting was taken up with discussing whether Messrs. JOWETT and RAMSAY MACDONALD should be given passports to Russia.  Mr. BONAR LAW clinched the matter by saying that the Russian Government wanted them.  Well, de gustibus, etc.

Tuesday, June 12th.—­Perhaps the most wonderful revelation of the War has been the adaptability of the British working-man.  Mr. CATHCART WASON called attention to the case of a professional gardener who, having been recruited for home service, had first been turned into a bricklayer’s assistant, then into an assistant-dresser, and finally into a munition-maker.  For some time the Ministry of Munitions seems to have been loth to part with the services of this Admirable Crichton, but having learned from the Board of Agriculture that there was a shortage of food it has now consented to restore him to his original vocation.

It will be a thousand pities if Captain BATHURST should persist in leaving the department of the FOOD-CONTROLLER.  If he could only keep down food-prices as effectively as he does irrelevant questioners he would be worth his weight in “Bradburys.”  His latest victim is Mr. PENNEFATHER, who has developed a keen curiosity on the subject of potatoes.  Did not the Government think that the high price would cause premature “lifting”?  Were they aware that potatoes could be used for making rubber substitutes and cement; and would they assure the House that there would be an abundance of them for the next twelve months’?  Captain BATHURST declined to figure in the role of prophet, and, for the rest, remarked that the hon.  Member appeared to have an insatiable appetite for crambe repetita.  Mr. PENNEFATHER is understood to be still searching the Encyclopaedia to discover the properties of this vegetable, with the view of putting a few posers on the subject to Captain BATHURST (or his successor) next week.

[Illustration:  CAPTAIN BATHURST REFUSES TO BE A POTATO PROPHET.]

As the friends of Proportional Representation are wont to refer to their little pet by the affectionate diminutive of “P.R.,” they can hardly be surprised that its appearance should lead to combats recalling in intensity the palmy days of the Prize Ring.  It was designed that the Front Bench should be content to perform the function of judicious bottle-holder, and leave the issue to be fought out by the rest of the House.  But Sir F.E.  SMITH, like the Irishman who inquired, “Is this a private fight, or may anyone join in?” could not refrain from trailing his coat, and quickly found a doughty opponent in Mr. HAYES FISHER.  The House so much enjoyed the unusual freedom of the fight that it would probably be going on still but for that spoil-sport, the HOME SECRETARY, who begged Members to come to a decision.  By 149 votes to 141 “P.R.” was “down and out.”

Mr. EUGENE WASON entered an anticipatory protest against the possibility that Scotland might be deprived of some of her seventy-two Members.  “I myself,” he said, “represent two whole counties, Clackmannan and Kinross, and I have a bit of Stirling and Perth and West Fife, and I am told I am to be swept out of existence.”  Gazing at his ample proportions the House felt that the Boundary Commissioners will have their work cut out for them.