Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1910. THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10156, 30 December 1910, Page 4

Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1910. THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

The position of the Liberal Party in Britain was succinctly put by Mr Winston -Churchill in a manifesto issued prior to the recent election. From this it wni be seen that the question, of the Veto of the House of Lords was made the one important issue in the election. Mr Churchill said:-—' 'The Conservative Party seek to hold a definite and permanent superiority in the Constitution over all other forms of political opinion. Whether in power or in Opposition, to quote the words of their Chief Whip, they mean to govern the country. They claim that through the House of Lords they still remain possessed, no matter how great the majority against them, of an allpowerful Veto, which they can use at their own good pleasure to wreck all legislation they do not like, and to harass, damage, and finally dissolve every Government and every House of Commons of which they are not masters. They assert themselves to be a superior political caste. They refuse equal rights to their fellowcitizens. They .demand that their opinions and their interests shall enjoy a favouritism and a privilege within the law above every other class of his Majesty's subjects. This must end. It must end finally, and it must end now. . We are resolved to win by every lawful means for ourselves, -and for those who come after us in the world, a fair and equal Constitution for our country. We seek nothing more. We will take nothing less. The last Parliament was violently broken up after it had sat less than five years through the Tory Party using their House of Lords Veto to destroy the Budget and to paralyse the Executive by stopping supplies of money to the Crown. In every year but one of that Parliament the Tory leaders employed this same oppressive Veto to ruin the main work of the House of Commons in each succeeding session, and the Education Bill, tJie Plural Voting Bill, the Scottish Land Bill, and the Licensing Bill were in turn rejected. The present House of Commons, although it was only elected in January, is, in spite of its large progressive majority, held in the same intolerable grip. There is scarcely a single considerable political question upon which we should be allowed to legisla.te. The Scottish electors ask for the Land Bill.

Veto! The British electors have returned large majorities in two successive Parliaments to put an end to the abuse—treated as a criminal offence in other countries —of one man casting his vote over and over again at the same election. Veto! The Welsh electors seek the disestablish-, ment of a Church imposed upon them from without, and to which the great majority of Welshmen do not adhere, but for which they are ail made to pay. Veto! Ireland still, in Mr Gladstone's phrase, "stands at the bar and waits." Veto! There is not one of those issues on which we do not possess an effective majority in the present House of Common:;. There is not one of these issues on which we did not possess an effective majority in the last House of Com-. nions. There is not one of them which would not at once be met by Veto—utter, blank, sullen Veto. There is in fact no path to progress however hopeful, that is not barred, no Liberal majority, however large, that is not overridden, no House of Commons, however newly elected, that exists except on sufferance. All roads lead to Veto. At the end of every legislative avenue loom the portals of Lansdowne House. We cannot get forward. We have nowhere to turn but to the nation, from whose recorded will all just powers of government are . derived. And while on the one hand the Veto of the House of Lords bars all progressive legislation, it offers no security against reaction. If a Conservative I majority of only a score were returned to the House of Commons, they would hold themselves entitled to make the whole revolution of setting up a protective tariff, including the taxation of bread and meat, and thus, as we believe, hamper and derange British industry, corrupt British politics, spoil' our good relations with the colonies; and aggravate the burdens of the poor. They would do this' without the .slightest .check or hindrance from the House of Lords. Was ever inequality more scandal-, ous? Was ever injustice more glaring ? All classes are to have votes; but only Tory Administrations are to exercise power. All men may express their opinions, but only Tory opinions shall prevail. We can submit no longer to this usage. This is our land as much as theirs. We have as good a right in Britain as they. We can cherish the glories of this famous island as dearly; we have guarded its honour and its interests at home and abroad with greater success ; our safety, our prosperity, not less than theirs, are founded upon the enduring welfare of the British realm. We have long claimed equal political rights in the Constitution of our country. Now we are going to take them.