The Dominion. MONDAY, MAY 23, 1910. THE CREATION OF PEERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 823, 23 May 1910, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, MAY 23, 1910. THE CREATION OF PEERS.

Now that King -Edward' has been buried with all the pomp and honour, and amidst the mourning, proper to his great. career, no long time will pass before the political struggle which his death interrupted is resumed with all the old ardour. Few people can really believe that the past sad fortnight has favoured the development of a satisfactory compromise between those who wish to destroy the bi-cameral system and those who wish to retain it in an improved shape. The Government has no option in the matter: it must press on with its attack on the "veto." Equally certain is it that the House of Lords will reject the Government's proposals; and Mr. Asquite will then be required to ask Kino George. to guarantee the creation of a number of Liberal Peers sufficient to bear down all opposition to Radical measures. It has not really been expected by the Government that the actual creation of these Peers will be necessary: tbe Radicals have been relying upon the sufficiency of the threat that the existing Peerage will be swamped. But, as tho Spectator recently pointed out, this hope is a yam one, being based on the mistaken belief that the existing members of the House of Lords would rather maintain their exclusivcncss and "the privileges and rights of their order" than help in the work of maintaining a check upon the vagaries of the House of Commons. The day has long passed away when "the old nobility" preferred a ruined England to a diluted Peerage; only a handful of Peers, such as Lord Wemyss and Lord Halsbuby, have this medieval horror of the defilement of their order. The more important and leading Peers, the Spectator reminds us, are well aware that the position and standing which they possess in the 5 country comes from their being the holders of historic titles and the maintainors of great family traditions. Obviously, they will care nothing, ex- . ccpt as citizens and legislators, for the creation of five hundred or fifty thousand now Peers.

The great London weekly discusses some rather amusing possibilities which seem to have been lost sight of by the Radical stalwarts. The new Peers would not bring about a Radical millennium:

The four hundred new Peers when chosen would no doubt as in duty bound vote for the proposals of the Government which had created them; but wo venture to say that in a. very large number of cases there would bo a rapid change of opinion, and that they would very soon, cither as members or constituents of n f-'oeoiul Chamber, begin to

iow with disfavour tho encroachments of the Lower Jiousu. They would, whenever the reform of the House of Lords was taken in hand, be prepared to restore tho powers and functions of the Second Chamber. Remember that if tho Liberals wero to make four hundred Peers, the part of tho case agaiiist tho House of Lords which appeals most strongly to the country—namely, that tho Liberal party is not properly represented in tho Upper House—would vanish. Clearly, then, the Peers are not going to be thrown in' a paroxysm of terror by tho threat that their body will be very greatly strengthened, as it would undoubtedly bo by a. large creation of Peers.

This argument assumes, of course, that in making its selections the Government would not be guided by such considerations as have weighed most with Sir Joseph 'Ward_ and his predecessor in making their appointments to tho Legislative Council. It was seriously suggested on one occasion, we believe, that Mr. Seddon had a : deeper design than the mere swamping of tho Council' with men who would do exactly as he bade them—that ho was deliberately endeavouring to bring the Council into disrepute. But, as the Spectator says, "that is not the way things are done in England. English statesmen, however violently they talk when party feeling runs high, know instinctively that the British people do not tolerate cynical action of this Jacobinical temper." The Prime Ministor would seek out men who would not bring

discredit upon him, and they would take care that tho terras of their

elevation would not bring discredit upon them. No man whom Mr. Asquitii could select for appointment would consent, for example, to the

setting of a term either to his title or to his seat in the House, for at the best his credit as a Peer would be a little delicate.

Two other little points are worth noting. Tho first is the position which would lie occupied by the wi,vos aoid daughters of tho now

Peers. Once in the roll of Peeresses, they would not permit the politicians to reduce their titles when their husbands had served their turn. The second point is that under a Unionist Government the new Peers would probably bo willing to restore any rights and functions lost by the House in the meantime. The Spectator, reflecting on their training in the spirit of "passive resistance," can even imagine them standing a physical siege against Lower House reformers. On the whole, therefore, the Peers are beyond the reach of such threats as have been uttered, and a general election must take place. A Liberal victory at the polls will necessitate the carrying out of the Government's threat, and the carrying it out will probably prove to be exceedingly embarrassing. Even then the Government will not be at the end of its troubles, for it is inconceivable that Mr..' Asquith can manufacture a Home Rule majority in the Upper House,, and it is only by making a clear way for Home Rule that he can ward off tho enmity of the Nationalists. ■