The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16. BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 340, 16 March 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16. BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

By what appears to be general consent of all parties, the Liberal Government is being allowed to "rub along" without any apparent effort being made to evolve order out of the existing political chaos. Meantime but a small proportion of the taxation necessary to carry on the business of the nation is being collected, and the financial machine is being kept in operation by temporary loans, which are obviously not lightening the load of the taxpayer. The only conclusion to be drawn from the position oi affairs, and the truce which has apparently been declared till after the Easter vacation, is that Mr. Asquith. has not been able to consolidate the whole of Lis party and the Irish Nationalist® on the two main issues of the Budget and reform of the House of Lords. The Opposition are not desirous of forcing the Government off the benches, for Mr. Balfour would be quite unable to hold office, and dissolution, which not one wants just .at the moment, would be the only course left open. Mr. Asquith will no doubt be able to contrive to come to a working arrangement that will ensure the passing oi the Budget, but as the Nationalists hold the balance of power !,liey must be satisfied regarding the Lords' Veto proposals before guaranteeing their support. The price that the Premier may have to pay for the Irish vote, however, is the rock on which he may yet fall. The Nationalists have apparently stipulated that the whisky tax and licensing duty proposals in the Budget should be modified or eliminated, at least so far as Ireland is concerned. Should this demand >be acceded to, it is certain that the enmity of the whole of the Temperance Party, which is, no inconsiderable section of the Liberals' strength, would be aroused, and probably cause defections from the ranks of Mr. Asquith's all too small majority. This would leave the Government, if it still desired to retain office, dependent on the support o'f the Opposition for the passing of the Budget. There is no reason to believe .that the party strife, so far as the Finance Bill is concerned, will be continued by Mr. Balfour, who is a statesman first, with a full sense of the importance of not endangering the national finance. Just how far it is possible that some similar arrangement might be come to in regard to the Veto, it would be hazardous to express an opinion. Lord Rosebery has taken the bull by the horns and offered/terms for the modernising of the House of Lords by the Peers themselves. His resolutions are liberal enough, but the crucial question of the veto is untouched. Until, however, Mr. Asquith has made public the terms of the Reform measures on the principles of which he contested the election, it is quite impossible to attempt to gauge the situation. It is brimful of possibilities, of which early dissolution on the one hand and coalition on the other are no less unlikely than the security of the Government's tenure of office.