The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER, 28, 1909. THE BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 623, 28 September 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER, 28, 1909. THE BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

_ The political situation in Great Britain is of such extraordinary interest that it is safe to say that a very large number cf people .are chafing at the delay in sending the Finance Bill to the Houso of Lords, No item'.of foreign news, it is quite certain, will be awaited with such keen interest, or will command so much excited attention when it arrives, as the report of the Peers' decision. The latest British files bring us very little that is now as to the situation, and in any event the Glasgow speech of Lord Rosebery has given a new turn to 'the current of events, which , , after Me. Lloyd-George's extraordinary speech, at 'Limehouse,. seemed for a time to' be setting in favour pf the Budget. It may be as'well to. state-very t. briefly what is the position created by-.the introduction of ,the .Finance Bill, as it must appear' to the imI partial observer, or, as we'may say, to the Imperial "Mugwump"—and tho "Mugwump" or impartial attitude, we must take this opportunity 'of observing, is the only attitude for the' true friends' of the Empire in the 'colonies; The Finance Bill was introduced ostensibly as'a revenue measure. The main case for it? many.new taxes was the need for aconsiderable;increase in the receipts of the. Chancellor of the Exchequer. This need. for revenue was ;' Beized by ll£ Li.oyd-George as an opportunity to do a great deal more than balance tho national accounts. The. budgetary purposes of the Finance Bill were, long ago admitted by Mu. Lloyd-Georgearid all his colleagues to be second in importance to its political objects, ; . What is aimed at is no longer claimed/to be revenue:, it is claimed to bo "the reorganisation of social responsibilities," or something of the sort. The opposition>to the Bill is opposition to the principles of the new taxes, and opposition also to the unauthorised introduction •of '•, new and farreaching'fiscal, theories into the economy of .the nation.;. It is upon the necessity! foi obtaining the country's verdict upon i thb revolutionary changes proposed that those who advocate the application of the Peers' veto base their case: Nobody, who -looks 1 impartially at.the position—whether his inclinations are ; in favour of or against tließill—can doubt that the case for rejection by the Lords' is, ,yery strong.. : -: Everything seems to the rcjecis in immediate,effect,the same .th'ipg,- the "laying : aside , the Bill by tho House of .Lords. -Lord LanspowNE'has not .wavered in the attitude which he thus stated at. a recent meeting in/Wiltshire: .' .>'■'. '-:■' '■:-!' want you clearly to understand tbo difference between-tho attitude which we who beliore'-ijn' the.Houso of Lords take up and, the attitude of those who put, in ,tho .extreme claim'on behalf of the. House of ;Comh\bnsi- -The orioside'tejls'j-ou'.that any.measure,, no matter how violent, , no mattert how little,'it' has been discussed /"in'■ Parliament, no, matter whether it has.ever, ;been^properly, put before' the country, must .'too- passed over the heads of tho.Houso of Lords if it is sent up two or three: tinies from tbo one House to the:other. .Jhc Houso of Lords scheme is a niuch'inoro'moderate one. '■ We recognise that, tho will of thci people of this country must prevail in tho ond, but'what • wo 'de-j mand .is .that',tbo people of, this, country should bo given'full and sufficient .opportunity of expressing that will with a full .and sufficient knowledge of' the subject. ■ That is, I .think/' not an ■ unreasonable demand, and' upon that'lssuo wo/aro ready ,| tp' try conelusibns; '!. ■;■■• .' ':. , .!'. , : :;'; , '■;'_[.. .."J^.. : ' A.member;of the . Cabinet was reported:a day ,or. two ago -as having,expressed an equal readiness to go tq the country, and tho leading.Liberal,papers are talking of the probability of a genoral election in January. There is, < of; course, a good reason, apart from tho issues , raised,directly by the Bill, why the,. Government should bo able to feel some confidence in; seeking' a' dissolution. This reason is clearly, stated'by .tho Spectator :in -an' articlq summarised in to-day's . cab'lo messages: .The Spectator infers.from Mr. Balfour's:failure ,to disagree with Mn. I Chamberlain's appeal, to;.thtj Lords, to I forco a dissolution that;' the Unionist, party : now favours tho rejection of "the Bill. But Tariff Beform is;now.the vital pclipy of tho Unionist, party, tod , ':-the Spectator, whoso belief, in the stability o*. the.Free : trado- sentiment of^B.ritain , ;s a-s strong as its own . advocacy of; tho Free-trade cause has been brilliant, is afraid that "if tho Unionists go to the country as food taxers they will fight under such' disadvantages that their pro.spects of success are precarious." ■"■ '■' ..Exactly what:real-progress the Tariff Reform movement has made, it ie % impose siblo. to estimate; ,but it seems doubtful that the Tariff' Ecformors can- succeed against.the forces'of Liberals and >thr Unionist , Free-traders, -should they definitely combine. : .'; The latter may object fiercely to a Liberalism that inblincß towards, Homo Rule, and that inclines still more strongly towards a Radicalism so" advanced suffer np...rnisreprcsentation in. being called plain Socialism; but many- of them regard the preservation of Free-trade as a moro .vital.necessity'than any other, Tho .Government to this extent is in a much happier position than its opponents. 'It can rely upon the forces of Freo-trado to fight tho battle of the Budget.; Tho Unionist party, on tho other "hand, cannot rely upon' its Free-trade wing to fight the battle of Tariff Reform, and this great movement is therefore placed at a disadvantage from the party standpoint..'ln the meantime it is possible to feel astonished that more attention has not.b.eon paid ,'to: the fact that 6ooial reform does not consist in taxing, the minority composed of those who are either comfortably off or well-to-do.' In some New Zealand newspapers the Bill is being referred to as a,groat scheme of social reform. This;is very curious; Nobody/has bettor reason than a New Zealander to know that increased taxation may be an agent in the dbforniing and corruption of society) Social reform is not a matter of collecting taxes. It it were, New Zealand would , be an ideal society, since the taxation here is higher than anywhere else in the Empire, and almost higher than anywhero else in tho world.' No country ever yet grow great and wealthy, frco of distresses and miseries, by .the process of diverting capi-, tal from its' natural channels into such channels as, a political committee, tho Government of tho day, may consider most cjc£fidiefit<