A FIGHTING SPEECH.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9669, 7 December 1909, Page 5

A FIGHTING SPEECH.

LORDS V. COMMONS. GREATEST FIGHT FOR GENERATIONS. LIBERALS DETERMINED. United P/ess Association—r>y ii,ic<Jtric Telegt&ph Copyright. Received December 6, 9 a.m. LONDON, December 5. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Edward Grey, addressing three thousand Liberals at Lsith, said the country was in for the greatest tight for generations. The Government might have fought the Lords oii education. They were justified in remaining in office because they had saved the country from great damages i-i South Africa, and had established a'scheme Jof Army reform which had appealed to the whole""country, and enlisted its spirited support of the voluntary principle. Now that the fight had come there was no choice but to fight it through, and jhe was glad there

was no choice. When the Lords, in 1884T°bstructed franchise reform, they recoiled later, owing to the country's rising indignation. Now, however, no [retreat was possible; there was no opportunity for repen-

burned] their boats.

The Liberals were determined to assert for ever the House of Commons' right uncontrolled mth regard to finance, and to assert the Liberal Government's right to hold office on fair terms, having a House of Lords responsive to the feeling of the country, or, it unreformed, there will be some mutual settled arrangement ensuring that the will of the Commons in the long run shall prevail.

! Referring to Lord Curzon's idea of reform—that the House of Lords should be a smaller body of superior persons chosen by themselves, Sir Edward Grey added: "There can be no real re- ~ form unless the hereditary principle is abolished, and popular election substituted." Loud cheers followed this state ment. LIBERAL PARTIES' INTENTIONS. Received December 6, 8.55 a.m. LONDON, December 5. The President of the Board of Trade, the Right Hon. Winston Churchill, speaking at Preston, said the Liberal Party did not intend to undertake the burdens of Government again unless full and effective powers were given them. The Radical newspaper "Nation" calls upon hundreds of thousands of Englishmen to refuse to pay taxes should the Government be overthrown at the elections.

A LABOUR MANIFESTO. Received December 6, 9.45 p m, LONDON 1 , December 6. A manifesto has been issued by the Labout Party. It states that the great question is whether the Peers or the people sre to rule. It welcomes the opportunity to prove that the feudal age is papt. The present system of land ownership has devastated the country side, imposed heavy burdens on industries, cramped the development of towns, crippled capital, and impoverished labour. The experience of the past four years has demonstrated the value of the Labour Party acting as an independent party The right to wor,k has still tobe won, but ia now within the range of practical politic. Poor Law must be broken up, pauperism abolished, and old age pensions extended or increased on the present non-conttibutury basis. Franchise restrictions, including sex bar, must be swept away. The Manifesto concludes: "The working middleclasses are still overburdened with rates and taxes. "Vote for Labour candidates. "Land or the People. "Wealth for wealth producers. "Down with privilege arid up with the people."