The Dominion. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1911. THE BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1060, 24 February 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1911. THE BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

V •; It would perhaps bo a mistake to conclude from the oponing debate upon the Parliament Bill that there is_to be a fight to. a finish. Tho " as observed,"to bo sure, that there was nothing in . Mr. Asquith s spccch to indicate, a disposi-n,-i° A lstc H to suggestions 'as to modification," and that "Mn. Balroun, impressed by Mr; Asquith's uncompromising nfcfcifcudcj seems ro signed to\a bitter contest," but. the attitudes of - the newspapers t have bout the controversy been studies in tactics rather than in real opinions. Mr, Asquite could not be cxpectcd to opon tho battle -with offcrs of a peaceful. settlement, nor could Mn. Balfour afford to prejudice his case by showing, any disposition to refer the! matter to any sort arbitration.' .'AS- to the spMches of tho two leaders tho honors are: mainly with.Mn. Balfour. Mn. Asquith's indictment of tho Referendum its a machino wliich, "if 1 b e l* cr ®i r «Bwdod as a regular part ot tho Constitution," would "reduce tho elections to a sham paradq And degrade the House of Commons.'to tho level of • a talking' club,has much to cfrniiticnd' it, but the more strongly a direct appeal to. the,people :iSv condemned by- the Governs ment. which professes to bo fighting for, the giving effect to,that, will; the' more clear, becomes the truth that what Mn., Asquith wishes to carry out is, not the settled desire of 'the" nation, but his Ministry's concepV tion of what'the nation ought to,desire. It is not without significances that oven whilo condemning , , th<s Hofcrandum as a regular;thing ho, adniits that there are i 'conceivable renditions,,ili wpiild.-Jjo _'a possible aK^'dio'nfcV'"-In dialing yrith exceptional .cases." AVe miy be sufo that he will be told'that this is all that the Unionists claim, , and that, if ever there were an ex-" ceptional case, it is this case of the proposed destruction of that bicameral system of government to which practically all tho nations of tho earth are determined to adhere. Whether .the Referendum proposal is, as he claims, "more revolutionary than tho Veto Bill" is not abovo debato, but. it is solely owing to .the revolutionary charactcr of tho Bill that the Referendum has been pushed to tho front by' tho Unionists. Desperate dangers call for desperate defences. : , , . It is less a testimony to Mn. Balfour's skill than to the strength'of. his ease'that ho dealt very effectively with tho glaring weaknesses of the caso'of the Government. • Not the least of theso weaknesses is tho claim that tho result of the election was a vcrdict for Free-trade and a verdict £or the Parliament Bill. It is notorious that.a' largo share of, the best brains on the side of Free-trade are heartily opposed to the Parliament Bill. Mr. Balfour was, on oven stronger ground-when ho condemned the character of tho majority for tho Bill. Some change in tho constitution of the Parliament, ho admitted, was necessary, but he cannot submit to "a revolutionary chango at the bidding ot an Irish minority." On tho general theory he can appeal, not only to the natural sense ot the nation, but to Liberal Scripture in,tho shape of tho late Mr. Gladstone's teaching. It is a curious fact, by tho way, that some of tho more intelligent of 'tho Radical nowspapers in this country which have been, declaring that the majority, even the baro majority, must deeido the fate of tho British Constitution, are always to bo found opposing this doctrine when the fate of hotel licenses in New Zealand is concerned. Tbo Government's greatest difficulty, of course, is tho undeniable fact that, whatever its ultimate intentions may be, its present proposal does destroy the reality of the House of Lords as> a cheek upon the Commons. The preamble of the Bill hints at a_ reform of tho Second Chamber, which, if British politics arc'not to become wholly irrational, implies in its turn an ultimate restoration of real power to the now Senate. Were he to act as ho wished, Mn. Asquith would probably take tho true Liberal lino: he Would set,about establishing a rationally constructed Second Chamber, such as would be the true*complement of the Houso of Commons, and leave the new machine with perfect confidence to guido the nation's affairs. But undor the menacing eye of Mr. Redmond, he daro not take this course. In the meantime Lord Lansdowne has announ«!d the early introduction of a Bill to amend the constitution of the House of Lords. This is not only a very desirable course of action from the point of viow of national interests, but also good tactics. For reform is .bound to come, and tho direction it will ultimately take will largely' depend upon tho first definite scheme presented in the

shape of a Bill.. This 'announcement' by Loud Lansdowne is in no way an indication as to the coursc which the Lords will adopt when the Parliament Bill reaches them. There is so much time to go, and there arc so. many chances that the'situation will bo altered by modifications in tho BiU, that it is impossible to say with entire confidence what the Lords will do. But the situation will have to alter in some very ■striking way'indecd before tho Lords aceopt the Bill. We may expect rejection, since the Unionists have much to gain, and nothing to lose —but rather much to avoid losing— by compelling the Government to I resort to force, in the- shape of ; a largo creation of now Peers, in order to carry out, not tho policy of tho Liberals, but tho orders of the Nationalists and Labour Socialists. There is a . widespread Radical delusion that tho Peers dread the creation of 500 bailiff nobles, but this is tho snobbery of ignorance. Loud Lansdowne will bo none the less Lord Lansdowne for tho creation of the Earl of Coooa and Lord Limohouse. As the Spectator points out tho prospect of 500 new. Peers is to Lord Lansdowne as nothing compared with the prospect of membership in "tho degraded and emasculated Second Chamber" proposed in the Parliament Bill. '