The Daily News SATURDAY, MAY 9. LORD ROSEBERY'S VIEWS.
Turning again to ilio considcraLion of till' "remarkable speech" recently deliv- c cri'il I>v Lord lioscbcry, it may be ob- • wrvwl'lltiit just at- the <|uoslion of J'rolection or I'rce-tradc. ami all such issue* 1,01 tlx- least concern to the Social- - li>K so ale Hie two great |«ivlies ill 111' 1 Stale, Tory ami lateral, lo tile Socialist, , luiiiil, stand on exactly the same plan''- 1 When laird ltoseliery calls upon ■" Ihc forces opposed Socialism' to W y and organise for resistance lie <i>» the impression that in the ilotl.orlaiia Socialism has nuuto a vast deal « 1 < mwrw* than anyone livinß in >.<» Zealand would imagine. It is trm 1 Ilia I filthe person Of Mr. Keir Hardie^yc have had anioug«t "s a leal In' ■ M member of the House of Common*, ,„ t . illlllis <-olony "Mr. Keif Hardie was I generally regarded ... Uie political freak. The laws of N-iti., I Ilivinolv e-tablished as they are son, - limes admit of the perpetration . 1,',,,,,.. V( ,. because of tW occasional •iniu-iraiicrs no t>n« apprrliPntls si »» »• era! manifestation of freaks The ll nu "'' ;,r,;„mo,H consul, of 070 memh^. (iull might ho expected in smell ,iiis liodv In not one ol tin la,.'' 1 ' 1 Chambers of llie clonics does the number of members exceed "ne-s,xth n . numbeu of the House <ot Commons, Jit freaks are far f,-o,n in S nen : . and no colonist is ever in the least dt | ~,-ee alarmed.
How fur Socialists arc juKtilied in hob i,,,. that pttctiallv no dUlc-i ciice exists between Liberals and Tories may, to some extent, be gathered Iron,the ex traordinarv constitutional views pio pounded by the president of the Libeial i ~.,,,11,!. To begin with, lie assumes til. nus-Mble election of a House of Commons that does not en.bod.v the will o people-"* hastily - elected House I Commons and its execuuve.' In that eventuality, the will of the people as expressed at the ballot-box is to be levied, and the engine of resistance is to be the House of Lords. In other wOlds, when ill the judgment of Lord iloocbeiy and similar other noble, ariotwi.i i..eutrv, the holders of property, th. House of Commons is not what i should be, then they in the House of Lords would lie justified in ignoring its legislation and trampling it umler toot. The president of the Liberal League, ol eourse, does not realise it, l>»t piaetici.llv such language is revoliiti°miry, i and I hi* dav thai witnesses tins House Lords leading the way in revolution.il) tactics will probably be a bad day or the hereditary Cbanibei. lhi win e U,:Jv upon Which the constitution w based is to give effect to the will «i Unpeople duly c M ,rosed through «.e ma-'-hinery of law provided, and i a da) should' even come when Socialists nuui ber a powerful majority in the Commons and, in its supposed might, a ■■reformed and efiicient" House of Lords rises to crush it, then lfot only will tin progress of Socialism not be stayed, out the "consequences to the Empire and to humanity will disastrous.
As a leading meinhev of tlie House o Lords, it is natural that the president of the Liberal League should entertain a very liigli—perhaps exaggerated—idea of the influence -and powers of thai body. The history of England discloses that there was a ti 111(1 when the Kinu ,vas held an almost saerod object of retard. The rights were considered div"ne and his person clothed with snneity: yet In-fore the will of an mil raged H'ople kings have licen swept away. In liese instances it may lie asked: Who i-as the. lirst revolutionary—tlie faithful V ' Ynt subjects? In Eng-
King or bis viole,. land to-day no such veneration attache to the Tlousr of Lords as once hedge about the poison of a king, and durin, its whole history there, are lew of it acts that call up sentiments of all'ec tion or gratitude. It is difficult to he lievo that, as Lord ltosebery thorp i* in Knglnnd. to-day any slroiv partv desirous of abolishing the lions of Lords, but if it ever comes lo : question of sustaining the authority n the t'ominous against the mandate <> ilie l/inN. however reformed. there c;iv be very little doubt as to which uoitlii go to tin- wall. It is really , 'paintull.\ *in pri-dug'' to find a statesman who haonce been Premier of a Liberal Government putting forward such extraordinary unconstitutional view*, and it is j little wonder that tile press has described it as "*a remarkable speech.''
To array in resistance an aristocratic, higlily-privilogptl class-numerically lmt a lignient of the populution—is not the way to light Socialism. There really is only one way, and that is by the institution of such stxial reforms as will destroy the meat that Socialism foeds on. So long as such unequal, and in many respect* shocking, conditions continue Sorjalnni is hound to progress in England it ha- done on the Continent. We, in New Zealand, have so-called Soamongst us, hut, having "taken the hull by tin* horn*'' betimes, they are itisiguilk-attt in number and without claim. Their stock-in-trade is derived from other lands where great abuses arising from the individualistic principle In-ing carried to extremes are deplorably manifest. Ifc is very foard work pushing a Socialist propaganda in a land whore (Mjual opportunities are afforded to all and everybody is contented and happy. I,ord Kosehery and noble lords lof his class and sympathies do not vet ; realise how vain j, thing it is to talk of the rights of property to of ; people who am starving'. It is hoped I the, knowledge may never be forced upon them unpleasantly.
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 118, 9 May 1908, Page 2
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948The Daily News SATURDAY, MAY 9. LORD ROSEBERY'S VIEWS. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 118, 9 May 1908, Page 2
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