PROGRESS OF VETO CONFERENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 832, 30 July 1910, Page 5

PROGRESS OF VETO CONFERENCE.

THE JULY SITTINGS. "TIMES" BELIEVES REAL HEADWAY MADE. LABOUR PARTY DIVIDED. iij Tok'araph—Press Association—Copjricbi London. July 28. "Tho. Times" ■ interprets tho fact that tho Veto Conference —which" held its first sitting on June 18—met nine times in July.as a sign-that real progress towards a basis of agreement has been made. "THE CURSE OF COMPROMISE.". LABOUR AT LOGGERHEADS. (R*c. July 29, 1 9.50 p.m.) London, July 29. A few days after Parliament., reassembled, four members of the executive of the Independent Labour party published a. manifesto in which they declared that the party had succumbed to "the curse of compromise," adding that Mr. Ramsay Macdonald (Labour member for Leicester), by his astuteness,, had captured the Labour party, and committed it to a revisionist policy.

It is understood that the divisions represented by tho authors of 1 themanifesto demand the holding of a special conference to discuss the situation. .•'•.'

OFFICIAL LABOUR VIEWS,

The Labour party' has been represented hi'tJierto-. as wiioliy opposed to compromise. At a meeting on June 17, Mr. ti. JM.- Barnes, chairman of the Labour party in tile House of Commons, said the withdrawal of tho pretension of the IJousa oi Lords, to control finance, and some .limitation of their power-to reject measures unproved by the House, of Commons, were" the irreducible minimum oi the people's demand. Mr. llarues thought a great chauco was lost at the beginning of tho session, when the Government failed to take advantage of their majority and get the job done as speedily as possible. Chances of that sort did not come every day, or year, or even in a generation. Benco ho was afraid that uow the House of Lords question. was in danger of fizzling out in mere talk and compromise.' » In saying that he must say he did not blame the Government for tak r ing up this conference. After all, they were in oihee to carry on what whs euphemistically called tho King's Government, and the Government must necessarily have regard to what the .King asked them to do,-and so could not refuse to take part, in the 'conference. The best thing, in his opinion, would he the speedy fizzling out. of tho conference, so that the people themselves might have a further opportunity of settling the matter .according to their own common sense..

REFERENDUM SUGGESTED. Within the last few days (said the "Manchester Guardian," ou June IS) a growing belief has spruug up that it is only by means of the Referendum that the opposing contentions of the two parties can ho reconciled. A recourse to this devico would provide that, subject to the consent of the people, a measure proposed by .the Liberal Government would pass into law in tho lifetime of the Parliament in which it was proposed, while the Second Chamber would retain tho power of ensuring that no important leg'islation was effected contrary to tho wishes of the electorate,...Tho proceedings of the conference are bound' to be prolonged, but it may be taken for granted that this solution will be one that will bo considered by it. Now that the conference has met, it is taken for granted that there will bo no general election this year, and should the proceedings bo as prolonged as most people expect, it is not likely that even in the event of a disagreement there will now be a general election before the King's Coronation.