BRITISH POLITICS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 925, 1 December 1910, Page 3

BRITISH POLITICS.

COMING ELECTIONS. BITTER CAMPAIGN. Paris, Nov. 29. The Gaulois says that English statesmen heretofore prided themselves on their courteous behaviour to their adversaries, but Mr Lloyd-George goes in search of personalities and infuriates his opponents with gibes, sarcasm, and insolent persiflage. Mr LloydGeorge might by his merits elevate the Commonalty, but he coarsely and brutally sinks to their level. Vienna, Nov. 29. The Reichspost denominates Mr Eloyd-George as a hot-blooded English Mirabeau. The Allgemeine Zeitung declares that it is repellant to hear an English Minister of the Crown openly praising a revolution. London, Nov. 29. Lord Curzou, speaking at Hull, challenged a comparison between his and Mr Eloyd-George’s life work. He would sooner cut oft his hand than poison the minds of his countrymen and preach civil war. The spectacle of a Liberal party protesting against the referendum was enough to make angels weep ! At the Belfast demonstration twenty thousand were unable to gain admission. Lord Londonderry declared the Government would be responsible for bloodshed in the event of Home Rule. The Ulster Council has resolved to establish a fund to enrol regiments and purchase arms. ,£lO,000 has been promised. Mr Winston Churchill, Home Secretary, speaking at Lambeth, said the Tory party was less than leaderless. Mr Balfour was an amiable dilettante and philosopher, content to brood serenely and sedately over the perversity of a world which he no longer attempted to influence. Mr Austin Chamberlaiu was a wooden effigy, a doll who had learnt to speak the same patter as “Old Joe.” Mr F. E. Smith was shocked at Mr Lloyd George, but whereas Mr Lloyd George was invariably witty, Mr Smith was invariably vulgar. The Tories were seeking to construct an Upper House of superior persons—a House of Curzons and Milners, a House ot swells removed from the ordinary methods of control. Lord Milner addressed a noisy meeting at Bow, Mr Lansbury’s supporters continually interrupting him. Lord Milner said he regretted the immense inequalities of wealth, and the unhealthy great distance separating the richest and the poorest, but that was no reason for indulging in a general scramble. He did not want the whole country to resemble Tonypandy, the scene of Mr Churchill’s efforts at constructive statesmanship. The purpose of the reckless and wanton abuse of the wealthy classes was to obtain cheap popularity and the catch votes of the unthinking. Lord Burghclere, in a letter, protests against a Bill enacting the supremacy of one House by a bare majority without appeal. Mr Lloyd-George’s statement that the referendum would cost two millions is a much traversed one. An estimate on the same proportion as Switzerland is that the cost would not exceed ,£16,000. No other estimate exceeds a quarter of a million. The Times condemns the Second Chamber having no authority except what it derives from a majority in the Commons. It would be an absolute farce. Any conceivable Second Chamber having an independent constitutional basis of its own would be better than a Chamber liable to be altered and re-altered at the uncontrolled caprice of the majority of the Chamber it is meant to check. The Manchester Guardian contends that the Lords' resolutions will give the Conservatives a permanent majority in the reformed House by means of the proposed garrison of representative hereditary Peers. The Bow Liberal Association has resolved not to support Mr Lansbury, the Socialist candidate. A crowd broke up a Suffragette meeting at Stafford by means of snowballs. Sir Edward Grey, speaking at Dudley, said the Lords’, reforms would probably result in the House consisting of 120 Liberals and 290 Conservatives. Moreover, the Crown’s prerogative to create Peers would be gone for ever. New York, Nov. 29. The United Irish League of America has opened subscriptions for funds to assist the Irish Home Rulers.