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Full Download PDF of Test Bank For Public Policy Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives, 7th Edition, Michael E. Kraft, Scott R. Furlong, All Chapter
Full Download PDF of Test Bank For Public Policy Politics, Analysis, and Alternatives, 7th Edition, Michael E. Kraft, Scott R. Furlong, All Chapter
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Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?
Difficulty Level: Medium
5. ______ refers to the institutions and political processes through which public policy
choices are made.
a. Government
b. Federalism
c. Policy analysis
d. Politics
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. Which of the following terms refer to deliberate critical thinking about the causes of
public problems and which policy choices make the most sense to address them?
a. policy outcomes
b. policy analysis
c. information context
d. deliberative government evaluation
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Policy Analysis
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. Which statement describes the primary reason that US policy making is characterized
by conflict over which policies to adopt?
a. Government officials, interest groups, and citizens promote their views about what to
do.
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
8. Which of the following terms refers to the relationship between the national
government and the state and local governments?
a. collective action
b. bicameralism
c. political culture
d. federalism
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. ______ has been defined as “who gets what, when, and how” or the exercise of
power in making decisions of public policy.
a. Equity
b. Feasibility
c. Government
d. Politics
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Politics
Difficulty Level: Easy
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
11. ______ are economic justifications for why government becomes involved in
societal problems.
a. Policy impacts
b. Policy subsystems
c. Market failures
d. Agenda settings
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. The main reason that government gets involved in addressing a public problem is to
______.
a. ensure continuity of externalities
b. conduct policy analysis
c. improve policy capacity of states
d. ensure that the general “public good” is maintained and protected
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
13. A recession is likely to affect the policies that Congress and the president adopt to
stimulate jobs. This is an example of which context affecting the development of public
policy?
a. economic
b. political
c. governing
d. social
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Economic Context
Difficulty Level: Medium
14. During and after the Great Recession, various governmental entities proposed
policies to create jobs, increase the minimum wage, and regulate financial markets. This
flurry of policy making was likely a result of which context, affecting the policy-making
process?
a. economic
b. cultural
c. defense
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
d. governing
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Economic Context
Difficulty Level: Medium
16. The governing context affects how policy decisions are made. This context refers to
______.
a. the federal system and separation of powers
b. values, beliefs, and attitudes
c. conflicts, elections, and political parties
d. inflation and unemployment
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Governing Context
Difficulty Level: Easy
17. The aging of the Baby Boom generation has led to growing interest in reform of
government programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Similarly, immigration
policy is in the spotlight because of the influx of immigrants to the United States. These
are examples of the ______ context influencing policy.
a. moral
b. social
c. political
d. governing
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Social Context
Difficulty Level: Medium
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
18. The examination of components of policy, the policy process, or both, is referred to
as ______.
a. policy formulation
b. policy legitimation
c. policy analysis
d. policy capacity
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Analysis
Difficulty Level: Easy
19. The United States saw an increase in environmental legislation in the 1970s due in
part to pressure from environmental groups. This represents what type of rationale for
government intervention?
a. economic reasons
b. moral or ethical reasons
c. market failures
d. political reasons
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Political Reasons
Difficulty Level: Medium
20. When the Environmental Protection Agency adopts regulations that force power
plants to take into consideration the actual costs to deal with pollution and the health
problems it causes, what type of market failure is the EPA addressing?
a. negative externality
b. natural monopoly
c. positive externality
d. barriers to exit and entry
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Medium
21. Education is often cited as something that benefits more than just the person getting
the education; it benefits society in a number of other ways. This is called ______.
a. redistributive policy
b. positive externality
c. buoyancy of community funding
d. market-based incentives
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
22. A(n) ______ occurs when the public has incomplete information in order to enter
into a transaction or exchange.
a. monopoly
b. information failure
c. economic context
d. joint consumption
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
23. Negative externality and information failure are both examples of what?
a. politics
b. market failure
c. political culture
d. toll goods
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
24. Which of the following is the only type of good for which there is no market failure,
and the government need not intervene to prevent it?
a. pure private good
b. pure public good
c. common pool resource
d. toll goods
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
26. A good that can be ______ is one for which one individual’s consumption of the
good does not interfere with another individual’s consumption of the same good.
a. jointly consumed
b. excluded
c. externalized
d. collective
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
28. Which of the following criteria for analyzing public policies examines how
government officials appraise the acceptability of a particular alternative or solution?
a. effectiveness
b. efficiency
c. political feasibility
d. equity
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
29. The “tragedy of the commons” refers to the situation in which individuals attempt to
maximize their use of ______ without regard to their degradation or depletion.
a. pure private goods
b. toll goods
c. common pool resources
d. pure public goods
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Easy
30. Federal subsidies that are only given to dairy farmers who own more than one
hundred cows may raise concerns about the ______ of the policy.
a. effectiveness
b. efficiency
c. equity
d. feasibility
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Easy
31. ______ argue for less government intrusion into the economy and decision making
within business and industry.
a. Liberals
b. Conservatives
c. Moderates
d. Independents
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Political Context
Difficulty Level: Easy
32. A ______ is a law proposed by a state or locality for voters to approve or reject.
a. referendum
b. initiative
c. recall
d. none of these
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-5: Explore why citizens should understand public policy.
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
35. ______ refers to what a policy or policy proposal costs in relation to its expected
benefits to society.
a. Equity
b. Feasibility
c. Efficiency
d. Effectiveness
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Easy
Short Answer
2. Identify the regulatory agency responsible for ensuring public safety for a wide range
of consumer products.
Ans: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. What is federalism?
Ans: The shared authority between the national government and the state and local
governments.
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
13. Which policy criterion would be used in an effort to evaluate how successful a policy
is at meeting its goals?
Ans: Effectiveness
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Easy
14. Which policy criterion refers to the assessment of how well a policy works relative to
the cost of adopting that policy?
Ans: Efficiency
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Easy
15. Which policy criterion evaluates whether elected officials are likely to find a
proposed policy acceptable or not?
Ans: Political feasibility
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Easy
Essay
1. Choose three of the contexts that surround policy making and explain how each
context can affect the decisions that are made or can influence the policy emphases
that emerge. As part of your explanation of a context, give an example of how a certain
context had an impact on a policy that was enacted.
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Ans: Select any of five contexts (social, political, governing, economic, and cultural). For
example, the governing context concerns itself with the nation’s constitutional design,
which includes separation of powers. Because of separation of powers, there is a
requirement that in order for policy to be made, there often needs to be an agreement
between the legislative and executive branches of government. This could lead to
gridlock, compromise, and settling on broad policies that all can support. Things like the
economy, social/demographic trends, political culture, and political power all affect the
issues that get dealt with by government and how the issue is resolved. Many different
examples could be given, such as the social context of the aging population and interest
in Medicare or Social Security reform, and the recession and interest in bills that create
jobs.
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Contexts of Public Policy
Difficulty Level: Hard
2. How can the social context affect the development of public policy? Provide an
example as part of your answer.
Ans: Changes in society, such as population, age demographics, single-parent families,
and so on, will shape the policy process. For example, an increase in the number of the
elderly in the population may dictate attention toward issues of Medicare or Social
Security.
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Contexts of Public Policy
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. What are the three major reasons for government intervention into a particular
problem? Select a substantive issue/problem (e.g., social security, environmental policy,
addressing the recession, etc.) and discuss why the government may intervene for each
of the reasons identified. Discuss political, moral/ethical, and market failure reasons for
government intervention and what these are. Select any issues (e.g., environmental)
and discuss how one might interpret government intervention from each of these
reasons.
Ans: Involvement in environmental issues from a political perspective may occur
because of pressure from interest groups or a change in public opinion. From a
moral/ethical perspective, intervention occurs because protecting the environment for
future generations is ethically the right thing to do. It also represents a market failure in
which a lot of environmental policy is based on negative externalities.
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Reasons for Government Involvement
Difficulty Level: Hard
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
4. One type of market failure occurs when markets cannot provide for the public good.
Explain the two criteria that determine whether a good is private or public.
Ans: The ability to exclude someone from getting the good, which usually occurs
through pricing, and whether a good can be jointly consumed. Jointly consumed goods
are those multiple persons can consume without exhausting them, such as utilities,
national defense, and air quality.
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. Discuss the reasons why it is beneficial for citizens to study public policy.
Ans: It affords numerous opportunities to become involved, in addition, to helping
citizens sharpen their analytic skills, decide what political positions to support, and
determine how best to evaluate democratic governance.
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Why Study Public Policy?
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. How are criteria used to evaluate public policy? Discuss the criteria that policy
analysts use to evaluate an existing or proposed policy and the focus of each criterion.
Ans: Effectiveness, how well a policy will address the public problem it is designed to
alleviate; efficiency, how well it works relative to the cost; equity, whether the policy
affects subgroups of people equally; political feasibility, whether the policy will be
acceptable in the eyes of government officials.
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. Ensuring the safety of amusement park rides illustrates the purpose and nature of
public policy. Discuss the purpose of policy making, reasons that government gets
involved in the solution of public problems, and the factors that make policy making so
complex.
Ans: Purpose is to promote the public good; government gets involved for political,
moral, or economic reasons, and it gets complex because of issues of federalism and
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
the way our government works, politics, how the various contexts can affect policy
making, and ultimately the role of government in a free market or capitalist society.
Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Medium
9. Examine the four kinds of market failures that lead to government involvement in
public policy. For each type of market failure, discuss the following: (a) the nature of the
failure, that is, what it looks like and how it occurs; (b) an illustrative example; and (c)
the way in which government may address the failure.
Ans: Monopolies: when one person or company controls and dominates the market,
many examples are possible, and all examples should show dominance by one
company.
Externalities: Negative: two parties interact in a market, and as a result of that
transaction, a third party is harmed. Many examples are given of negative externalities
of pollution due to manufacturing or emissions. Positive: a transaction between two
parties benefits a third party, such as education. Government will invest in the support
of these transactions because of the benefit to society.
Information failure: situations in which consumers don’t have complete information
needed for a transaction in the market. Examples of information failures: health
insurance policies, safety of drugs and food, and financial markets. Government
intervenes to protect consumers when they are not able to get or understand the
information that will help them choose wisely on their own.
Markets generally are not concerned with the public good: Other than pure private
goods, the government may need to get involved to protect the public good for the other
types of goods. Many examples can be used. Government can use a variety of tools to
regulate, manage, and create programs to protect the public good.
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Hard
10. Policy making does not occur in a vacuum. Explain and provide an example of each
of the various contexts that surround policy making and how that context can influence
the policies that are enacted.
Ans: Social context: demographic trends and how citizens relate to one another;
economic context: the state of the economy, employment, poverty, and government
budgets; political context: the conduct of the two major parties and their positions.
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Contexts of Public Policy
Difficulty Level: Medium
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Chapter Quiz
CHAPTER 1: PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICS
Multiple Choice
2. Which of the following regulatory agencies is has some authority over amusement
park rides?
a. State Insurance Regulators
b. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
c. National Labor Relations Board
d. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Medium
4. Which of the following elements of public policy refers to the authorized means of
pursuing goals?
a. intentions
b. programs
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
c. decisions
d. proposals
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. Which of the following levels of government play the dominant role in crime control
and land-use regulation?
a. local and state
b. state and federal
c. tribal and state
d. federal and local
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. The criterion of ______ is also a way to think about who is allowed to participate in
policymaking processes, such as who gets to vote or who gets to speak at a public
hearing.
a. efficiency
b. feasibility
c. equity
d. effectiveness
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. Most often, references to ______ reflect a judgment about whether elected officials
are willing to support a policy proposal.
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
a. efficiency
b. political feasibility
c. equity
d. effectiveness
Ans: B
Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy is Best: Using Multiple Criteria
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Which of the following exists when one or several persons or companies dominate
the market and can control the price of a product or service?
a. monopoly or oligopoly
b. externality
c. information failure
d. inability to provide for the collective good
Ans: A
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures
Difficulty Level: Medium
11. The arguments for and against government intervention are often advanced during
______.
a. policy adoption
b. policy evaluation
c. policy implementation
d. agenda setting
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public
policy.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Reasons for Government Involvement
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
14. Which of the following terms is used to describe the transfer of responsibility and
authority for the implementation of certain programs to a lower level of government?
a. regulation
b. deregulation
c. gridlock
d. devolution
Ans: D
Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Governing Context
Difficulty Level: Medium
15. A law proposed by a state or locality for voters to approve or reject is referred to as
a ______.
a. recall
b. initiative
c. referendum
d. constitutional amendment
Ans: C
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Kraft, Public Policy 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
True/False
3. Politics is one of the principal reasons public policy is so riddled with conflict and why
it can be so difficult to analyze.
Ans: T
Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Politics
Difficulty Level: Easy
Prior to the opening of the doors Berlinda takes her seat among the
audience.
The door opens. A row of figures, covered over with sheets, stand on
rout seats round the room. One or two reclining figures in the foreground.
Overture on the violin, “How doth the little busy bee,” by Roderigo
Pipkins, the meandering musician.
A servant in livery then enters, and uncovers the wax-work figures,
revealing—
Let our business be to show the product of the busy bee, namely,
these “neatly spread” wax figures.
And first let me call your attention to Joan of Arc.
(Joan of Arc moves her head, and raises her hand mechanically).
Much mystery attaches to the young person now before us. It is
supposed that she was called Joan d’Arc, because we are in the dark as
to her birthplace, unless we accept the idea that she came from Arcadia.
She suffered much from nightmare, and fancied she was riding over
France as its victoress. Consequently she adopted men’s clothes. It is
well to observe too that she cut off her hair before she arrived at Chinon.
She headed an army, so the tale goes, of 7,000 men; and with the
strength of her arms the foe was defeated. After which she came to ruin
(Rouen), that is to say she was burnt there.
Virtue and manliness always succeed in the long run, however, and
her successes have been immortalized in Paris by a gorgeous
tombstone, entitled the Arc de Triomphe!
The next figure I shall introduce is one of a paragorical nature. The
Queen of Night, represented by a daughter of Eve. Unseen she spreads
her mantle over the earth, and thus acts the part of an itinerant angel.
The umbrella in her hand is also an emblematic figure, representing the
pernicious influences which attend upon her, and is called the deadly
nightshade. In the absence of any further proofs of the authenticity of this
character there will be an interval of a minute, during which the band will
play.—Exit.
Roderigo Pipkins immediately strikes up, but suddenly leaves off,
takes out the ringlet from his pocket, and waves it before the audience.
Berlinda hides her face in her pocket handkerchief.
[Exit.
The applause was deafening; never did the drawing-room echo back
such clapping of hands and hearty bravos as it did that Christmas Eve;
the doors were closed, but long and loud shouts for Alonzo Napoleon
Smith were raised, and they had again to be opened, for the performers
to come in and make their bows to the audience. Roderigo led in
Berlinda, Richard the Third came arm in arm with Joan of Arc, the Duke
of Wellington chaperoned the Queen of Night, and the livery servant
brought in the meandering musician’s fiddle!
And then came the puzzling part of the affair, to try and find out the
word. One guessed “Audience,” awe-die-hence; another “Entertainment,”
enter-tàen-ment; a third “Overlooking;” and others the most absurd and
improbable words possible, and words which were never introduced into
the charade at all. At last one sharp boy, who had been taking notes
between the acts, stumbled upon the right word, and it was ⸺.[2]
A question now arose as to whether there should be any more
charades, or whether the rooms should be cleared again for more
general fun. The set entertainments carried the day, however, and after
an interval for refreshment, and a little variety in the way of some songs
by some of the young ladies, the loud bell of the town crier was heard in
the hall, and Master Willie Cathcart, who represented that institution,
announced—“O yes! O yes! O yes! a great Reform Debate and
Demonstration will take place in this place on Christmas Eve, of which all
persons interested in the great questions of the day will be pleased to
take notice. God save the Queen.” In double-quick time the company fell
into position, and then came
A motley crew of reformers followed, some with flags, and some with
rosettes; one boy had some pieces of paper, and was chanting a parody
on Tennyson’s lines, “Sweet and low.” The first verse ran thus:—
Last of all, arm in arm, came the reform agitators. The cheering that
greeted them was loud and long, and when they had elbowed their way
through the crowd, which was purposely arranged so as to make it
difficult, they ascended the platform, which had been reared on the spot
lately occupied by the wax figures. And then, by one of those
transformations which are so easy in fiction and on the stage, the scene
was changed from Hyde Park to the House of Commons, represented by
the platform. Charlie Stanley took the chair as Speaker of the House,
and to the right and left of the table, in places marked “ministerial” and
“opposition,” the members arranged themselves. This arrangement was
not on the ground of political opinion, but it was deemed desirable that,
when any cries of “oh!” or “order!” were to be introduced, it would be
better for those on one side of the speaker to cry down those on the
other side. It was not a full house; only four honourable gentlemen
appeared on the platform beside the Speaker, and they were Messrs.
Walter Stanley, Alec Boyce, Arthur Mortram, and Oswald Layton. Edward
Barnes having carefully arranged his banner so that the motto should
appear above the head of the Speaker, acted as Usher, or Master of the
Ceremonies, and not being very familiar with the proceedings in the
House of Commons, commenced by crying “Silence in the Court,” which
immediately produced an uproar. However, this was soon put down, and
then the Speaker rose and said—
Gentlemen,
I think you will agree with me, it would be quite beside the mark
For us to sift the question of the riots in Hyde Park,
Or even bring that railing accusation up again,
Which most suppose was settled then by might and Mayne.
We will not name the Bright ideas in fashion long ago,
Nor condescend to thoughts that may be anything like Lowe.
Reform debates are very sober things, but still
They don’t go on successfully without a Mill.
Stick therefore to your points, and let us hope you’ll bring,
For all who are inclined to roam, a Whalley-ping.
We meet to-night to take the young idea by storm,
And quote the latest standard for reform.
We vote for Boyhood suffrage—that’s our motto,
We want no Dull uns’ cave, or hole, or grotto,
But urge that all our boys should boldly take their stand,
And in a solemn League go hand in hand,
And try to put down all the wrong that rules
In play-grounds, workshops, cricket-fields, or schools.
“Reform, complete and genuine Reform,” that is our maxim,
No bribery or corruption, or £7 rate to tax him;
But let each boy, who has a good opinion he can quote,
Be free to use, as best he can, his vote.
Now, Gentlemen, the weighty question lies with you,
Sift well its points, and show us something new.
Don’t fear, in studying the welfare of a lad,
To say of shuffling measures, “Dis really is too bad.”
Don’t fear the Opposition, and to each who axes,
Say “Every one for all, and bother taxes.”— (Cheers.)
Speaker.
Hold!
My duty is to take down several pegs
Whoever spars at any member when he’s on his legs.
Chorus.
Oh! oh!
Mr. A. Mortram.
“It is their nature too.”
Mr. A. Mortram.
I think the honourable gentleman who just now spoke
In such a piping tone of boys not consuming their own smoke
Should bear in mind in what direction he would cast his pearls,
Our movement takes in boys but not excludes the girls.
(Cheers in the Ladies’ gallery.)
And therefore his ideas are narrow, unless he meant to try
And show that it was equally injurious for girls to pipe their eye.
The subject of my speech is—to be brief—
The Government and the Opposition, everybody in the room, and the
servants who were crowding round the door, held up their hands
immediately, and the Bill was carried amid such enthusiasm as is rarely
seen even in the House. And as the speakers came down from the
platform, headed by Tom Martin, who played “We won’t go home till
morning,” (no doubt under the impression that that best expressed the
habits of Members of Parliament,) they were cheered all the way to the
refreshment room, where they amicably settled their political differences
over lemonade and sherry.
How fast time flies when the evening is being merrily spent! Who
would have thought it was supper-time already? But so it was, and the
lads and lasses were fast pairing off for that event, when a loud rat-tat
was heard at the door.
“What, fresh arrivals at this time of night!” said one or two. “I wonder
who it can be!”
“It is a surprise of some sort or other,” said Ada Martin; “I am quite
sure it is. I can tell it by the twinkle in Mr. Merry’s eye.”
Rat-tat, again and again, at the door.
“I can’t bear this suspense any longer,” said Emily Cathcart; “I must
peep.” But the door was closed, and a firm hand on the outside kept it
fast.
“I say it’s a Punch and Judy,” said one.
“No; I say it’s Christy’s Minstrels,” said another.
“I believe it’s fireworks, to go off on the lawn,” said Arthur Mortram.
And in the midst of the speculations the doors were thrown open, and
the visitors were announced:
Mr. W. H. G. Kingston.
Mr. R. M. Ballantyne.
Mr. Edwin Hodder.
Mrs. Mona Bickerstaffe.
Mr. Sidney Daryl.
Mr. R. Hope Moncrieff.
Cousin Cyntha.
[2] As some of our young friends may like to guess out the word for
themselves, it is withheld, but will be published in the January number
of “Merry and Wise.”
FROZEN UP;
OR,
My Polar Experiences.
“In a few minutes an Esquimaux, with his seal spear in his hand and his dog by his
side, stood before us.”—Page 52.
You ask for a yarn, my friends. I’ll spin you one with all my heart. You
are all agreed that Christmas is a merry time. It ought to be so with
you who have many kind friends around you, a warm, blazing fire,
plenty of roast beef and plum-pudding, and other satisfactory things;
and good houses, and warm clothing, and numberless other
blessings, spiritual as well as temporal. But, I say boys, that should
not allow us to forget that there are thousands of our fellow-
creatures, and of our fellow-countrymen, too, who are perhaps at this
moment starving and freezing—dying of cold and hunger. Those who
have never suffered themselves are apt not to think of the sufferings
to which others are exposed. I, however, can never forget a winter I
spent—where do you think? In Scotland. Oh, no. Shetland? Further
north. Iceland? Further north still. At the North Pole, or, at least, not
far off it. I went to sea in the old “Grampus,” Greenland whaler, from
Hull, for a summer trip, hoping to be back with my friends by the end
of October. The old “Grampus” was barque-rigged, 350 tons burden,
carried six whale-boats, three hung up on each side, and a crew of
fifty men, all told—consisting of harpooners, boat-steerers, line-
managers, coopers, carpenters, foremast-men, landsmen, and
apprentices. Each man was to have a share in the profits on every
whale caught, so that all were interested. The ship was very strongly
built, with ice-knees to withstand the pressure of the ice. When I
examined her, and observed that her bows were one mass of wood,
I thought that nothing could harm her. I little knew, at that time, the
tremendous power of masses of ice when grinding together, though
no storm is raging over head, and the sea beneath may seem calm
as a mill-pond. Our courses, that is our lower sails, were differently
shaped to those of an ordinary merchantman, being narrow at the
foot, and fitted with booms, so that they would swing round of
themselves when, as was often the case, a few hands only were left
on board to work the ship. But an important feature in our ship, in
common with other whalers, by which she might be known at a
distance, was the “crow’s nest” at her maintop-gallant-mast head. It
was like a big cask, and contained a seat, and a place for a
telescope, a speaking-trumpet, a flag, and a few other articles. Here
an officer was stationed, when whales were supposed to be near, to
watch for their appearance. Our boats were different to those in
general use aboard trading vessels, the stem and stern were alike,
and were about twenty-six feet long. Each carried six whale-lines, of
120 fathoms in length, and harpoons and lances, an axe for cutting
the line should it foul, and many other articles. The boats pulled from
four to six oars. The captain, or one of the mates, acted as
harpooner, the boat-steerer ranked next to him, and the line-
manager took the third place. The crew were formed into divisions
according to the number of boats, and thus each division consisted
of a harpooner, boat-steerer, line-manager, and four or five rowers.
The harpooner had command, and when in pursuit pulled the bow
oar. I looked forward, with great delight, to the cruise. To see a real,
palpable iceberg—not a mere painted one in a panorama—and huge
living whales caught, was, I thought, worth going all round the world
for, and would amply repay me for any danger I might have to
overcome during the short summer trip I expected to make. Captain
Blowhard, the master of the “Grampus,” was a relative of my mother,
and had offered to take me as a supernumerary in his own cabin. If I
liked a sea life I was to continue in it as a profession, but if not, I was
to return on shore and learn to wield a pen or a yard measure,
instead of a harpoon or a sword. The full complement of our crew,
including some of our best men, was to be made up at Lerwick, in
Shetland, where we called to take them on board. We remained
three days in the Sound, off the chief of those treeless but highly
picturesque islands, and, I must say, that a more hospitable, kind-
hearted, pleasant-mannered people I never met. They have,
however, one grievous cause of complaint. The map-makers will
persist in putting their group of islands up in an out-of-the-way corner
of the maps, so that a very large proportion of the human race do not
know where they are really to be found. In spite of this, however,
they are a tolerably happy and contented community. Away we
sailed on our voyage, which was anything but a smooth one, for we
were tumbled and tossed about by the big waves in a manner which
I thought must shake even our stout ship to pieces. They did not,
however; and, towards the end of April, our captain showed me our
position on the map, not far from Davis Straits. The next morning,
going on deck, the sky very blue, the sea tolerably smooth, and the
sun shining brightly, though the air was unusually keen, I saw close
to us, towering up high above the masts of the ship, a white, floating
mountain—an iceberg—pure as alabaster. Curiously shaped peaks
formed the upper part, which seemed to rest on a base of arches,
forming the mouths of caverns, of the most delicate blue tint. The
peaks glittered brightly in the sunbeams, and every instant seemed
to change their shape, either as the berg moved slowly round, or we
passed by. I exclaimed that I had never seen anything so
magnificent. “Wait a bit, youngster, you’ll see stranger sights than
that before long,” observed Sam Grummet, our first mate, who had
followed the fortunes of Captain Blowhard for the best part of his life.
I had one shipmate of about my own age, “Jack;” he had another
name, but he was never called anything but Jack. He and I soon
became fast friends, though he was before the mast and I was in the
cabin. Then there was Sandy Dow, a boat-steerer, a true-hearted
and an honest Shetlander. He took an interest in me from the first;
not a mere fancy, but because I was young, thoughtless, and
inexperienced, and he earnestly wished to do me good. A few days
passed away after we got among icebergs, and we were in hourly
expectation of making the ice. Even in calm weather it requires great
vigilance to discover an opening into which the ship may sail, but
when blowing hard, as it did when we entered Davis Straits, it was a
very anxious time. The danger was, however, chiefly from the
washing pieces of ice, which are often large masses just even with
the water. An experienced hand was stationed at each yard-arm
throughout the night to look out for them. My wonder was, as I saw
the men up there, that they did not drop asleep and fall off, as I am
sure that I should have done. At length, a collection of sheets of ice
appeared one morning ahead of us, with passages between them,
into which no sooner did we run than we found the sea smooth as a
mill-pond. Gaily we glided along, sometimes through narrow lanes,
at other times across broad lakes bordered by ice. Our crow’s nest,
and boats, and gear, were got ready, the first being occupied during
the day by a look-out, for any moment whales might appear, and the
boats would start in chase. We were at this time sailing along the
coast of Greenland, and, although we were from twelve to twenty
miles off it, so lofty are the mountains, and so pure the atmosphere,
that often it appeared as if we were close under them. Indeed, when
we at length stood in for the land, it seemed as if it was actually
drawing back from us, so long did we sail on and yet seemed to be
getting no nearer. I remembered the story of some of the old
navigators who, in consequence of this, thought the country was an
enchanted one, and rather than venture on it put about and made
the best of their way home again.
As the season advanced, the days gradually increased in length,
till the sun itself was visible at midnight, and darkness was banished
from our part of the globe. Still, there was a difference, for the night
always seemed calmer and more quiet than the day. At length, our
ears were gladdened by a shout from the crow’s nest of “A fish, a
fish; she spouts, she spouts.” The crew had till then been moving
leisurely about, but, in an instant, all were in a state of the greatest
excitement. Three boats were sent away in pursuit. No one, by rule,
goes in the boats except those who row or steer; but just as Sandy
Dow’s boat was shoving off I slipped in, and so eager was everybody
to be off that they did not stop to put me on board again. Away we
dashed, the water foaming up at our bows. Sandy’s practised eye
had marked the spot where the whale had gone down, and well he
knew where it would come up again. On we went, and there was a
whirling in the waters, and the monster’s back rose gradually out of
it, while a column of steam-like vapour ascended into the air.