1-150-829 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The Awkward Horse', 1880. Sir Stafford Northcote, the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer advances with the twitch upon the Irish Horse, which the Liberal Marquis of Hartington is trying to calm. Sir Stafford had recently presented a proposal for ridding the political system of obstruction, the use of which had been causing the Conservatives so much difficulty during the last couple of Sessions. The proposal gave the Speaker the authority to decide what constituted obstruction, and then to suspend the offender. The proposal was firmly supported by members of the Opposition, such as Gladstone and Spencer Compton Cavendish . From Punch, or the London Charivari, March 6, 1880.