THE LAST SESSION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9043, 19 March 1908, Page 4

THE LAST SESSION.

According to the London correspondent of the "New York Herald," there is a strong feeling at Westminster that this will be the last session of the present Parliament, notwithstanding the fact that the Liberal majority over all parties and sections combined remains no less than 120. That is the net result. But calculating all other parties and sections as concurring in opposition to tariff reform the count against the Unionists reaches the immense majority of 345. But old Parliamentary hands know that an overwhelming Liberal majority has always been a source of weakness. Each section of the Party of Threads and Patches wants its own particular measures placed in the forefront of the sessional programme, and the disappointments lead to disputes. Already there are many signs of cleavage and rupture. The Premier thinks that the agitation against the Lords will be a good battle-cry for the general election, and that is why he wants to fill up the cup. The Unionists seem to welcome the battle-cry. They know that befor2 the House of Lords can be abolished its own consent must be obtained, and that therefore it is exceedingly improbable that such a change will ever be effected by, ordinary constitutional means. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman wi'l.find it difficult to persuade the bu!k even of his own followers in the country that he has only to signify the wish and the House of Lords will forthwith rip itself up, like a Japanese grandee, to avoid destruction from without. The country will have to wait for a period of revolution before any such attempt is at all likely. The unpopularity of the House of Lords would be one of the eleirients and causes of this revolution, but the House of Lords is not unpopular, and all moderate politicians believe that it is destined for a long time to enjoy the proverbial immunities of threatened men.