LORPS AND COMMONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 180, 25 April 1908, Page 10

LORPS AND COMMONS.

. SPEECH BY MR. BALFOUR, v THE RESPONSIBILITY OE THE PUBLIC. • On February 28, Mr. Balfour attended a , .dinner- at tho Mansion. House, given by. tho Lord Mayor t« tho ■ Masters of tho Livery Companies of the City of London.' After tho '■ loyal toasts, th'o Lord -Mayor proposed "Tho 1 City' Livery Companies,'' to which, tho Master >; .of the Mcrcors' Company responded. Alder.1 man Sir .-/.Henry Knight proposed The ■ Houses of Parliament." j . THE HOUSE OF, LORDS. ...•; Tho Earl of/Halsbury, in responding for , the .House of jjords, .said , that in discussing i' political, questions'- on such an occasion ■ they ,musls''cOiiline' thOmselyes to 'hafmless platii; ttidos/'f(Lan^jiter.)..'For instance, they might .repeat the, stntiment' two,; thousand years, old • that, .unbridled/,democracy sometimes led to a • state of thingoi'im which publio men spoket acted,,'not' for tho good, of thp .Statp, but ,! ..to;; please, the popular'.inind—(laughter and ■ cheers)—or tho .romark-.of tho same, writer, that peoplo returned for popular.constituencies ' pledged themselves to things . which,- in their conscience,- ; - they., know were ; not . for tho good of . tho State. ' (Laughter • ancl chebrs:) . Ho was looking at; theso ques- ■ twos not practically;-but if they should seo a position arise in which tho frec- ; "om, of public speech was- suppressed, ■ in which the rights of property woro disregarded,, and it'was said that nobody had a ■right to anything—(laughter)—then. of : course, it. would bo very desii-ablo to have an ; assembly -like ' the House; of.: Lords to show that all human; society . 'depended , on the rights pf free'; speech', and; tho rights, of property, '.and that 'if .these , wero - disregarded civilisation .lteelr was 'in peril;, '(Cheprs.l ' . MR. .BALFOUR'S SPEECH.: , ; whO'Was.'.rebeived ;w ; ith'cheers., on rising, to'-roply fort the Hpuso.'of Commons,,.said ; -.withVdiificulty,- be- : cause i.tno' Housos .'of -Pprliaineiifc. wbro ef a' . growth as",compared with 'the City ■ .CompanidsK we're-.:of; far;'greater age .and stendihg.ithaij'tho' relatively-humble and youthlul; bodiesnfo- whiclr lie and 'Lord Halsbury .belongcdi.V (Laughter.) He ; did not deny, that we had dangers in front of 'us. There , had .always been dangers in frent pf us, but; up to the. present year of 1908 tlio vigour,' coinniou sense, aad statesmanship of this country had been sufficiently. ward 'off those 1 dangers as they arose, arid to preserve unin-| jured lii any fundamental particular tho heriwhich our ancestors had transmitted.to us (near, though vho admitt-od that perhaps , at the present time more-than at any period within, the recollection -of . aiiy! .■ tM :i]b there seemed to bo foi'bes'-at werk imperilling .tho interests upon :■ which ;.;;th'o . whole .basis..of 1 society, iii- ..his. opinion, "depended)he did not tokoVpesfflmistic or hopeless view of either the. House pf Lords or the Ho.use of Commons, or of the future of the • country. • (Cheers.) Nor was he disposed to agree, with, thq?e.,jwho saw... a;'perpetual-:.pro-, cess of, dctcr'ipration .going-, oil - in-'the Lower House. He was very doubtful whether thoso who. were .really; careful, students of Parliamentary,;, history \rPUld ;'a'dmit' that'tho 'de- • c ttdence ihad' proqeeded,. to ' the length 'whicli ■^??? e i\P°"tqp.pbr;a)y'.;cptick''..s'eqmb(l'.-;i9 .sup-, .pose.*; He' quife irantfid that'the* difficulty of; gotting thrpUgh; public' business,"" especially' jtho amount, of PSbligr/huswess .-they/ wweV lasked .to do, under -tho-ai^jnceis.-w''some-Go-'' #ith : " : tho*'-' herod'tof- liberty ' : df '. criticism- which' tlie-'House - of. Gcfmo'ns. bught to: -.Ho further ad j ; mittbd that iio c'omjjlete br'satisfactbryvsolu-'. t.on pf,.thafc.difficulty 'hadyet beeirproposed-; After';;making-, that/statement,-, however, ho was not prepared] to .go'further; .'.l'hero : woro' a great'..many ;chtogoS;K'b '"wbtfld ;I ]iEb,:'i&' the 1 ' 'he' 1 dld'. : rio«,adm4t^ha^,..feH'&ti^th"tfad\iaKmpm'i E bei-s wero •cpnccrnbd',' aiid-fmakiug- abstr'actibhs' : v' r'adniit"they ; Bhbwed,'.*the-JdoterioVatibn'.;'which> s'om'o people 'professed..tb'.ifind/l'<;<■' ■■■;■: -J: ; . ,v L ',THE PUBLIC'S PART. ' But; if ho'was wrong, and ii, he. took, too sanguine a view ef :this: Hpuso--'pf;;Cbmmpiis' '-M.^h.e'.future:House of- Commons, : -.the fault didjnot'lie with them,. but with tho .eleotors 'returned;^'tho. irietibers. ; -;He,'had muchto . complain.,of .• in. !|ho >'opinions thisHouse' of .Commons, licld, but on -that, subject ho could ..say .he saw '.some,'; process • of im- . P£°7S!ft 0 , if I ''A 1 ■.WA.^slispussiii^-flpinidhsj' iVi\%Ahp;gener?!.iqhpi;acter v i.ofcthe'>ifidividuals- ' sont ; ..tb',roprq,s'eiit-the ppustituenpies, :";ari.d : ,if,take; that gathering' as : representing: tho public ho would say: "The faults of tho ! House of Commons are .due to you, and t-o ■ you alono.-.; It because..yquf-hayerall-used : the. powers which, the. Constitution , gives you .that tho.;.Hous6,,fails', shott ';of : tho,standard would' ;lia i n : to? Critipiso)the.'House, of.Commons, for.-.whose,character-and. constitution yiju are solely, responsible:".'.>Hq dipped tho public would imprbye it, "or at..;)east ate;, the.;quality of .the opinions' it represented.' /But,:- however that .-might' refused. 'te ; take ' a pessimistic or gloomy: view.:of .tho futuro of the. Legislature. (Cheers.)' : He re-' fiised to believe,. in spite, of all '.the signs - which might portend-'a..different;'resultj'''that ' either .the present-Legislature, l or those- who returned, the Legislature to power,;'would ever ...consent'.-.to such. a : chaugo iii tho t\vo Houses',.,'or in-,.;their .mutual relations', : ; a's would destroy, the ; hereditary Constitution -of these-: kingdoms.- (Cheers.) - Wliile.'lio 'was ' ponndont of the broad , legal outlines pf the - Cpnstitutipn'..under; : ; w'hiclr .we ilive,.;not less' sanguine ivasvlid' as\ to' tho' eohstitiitiou- of that elected House, to which it had'been'his ■ tride for' mo'ro.; thbi'thirty, yearsvtovbelong.' He did not'believo there' be any falling oft ability- or''character in tho' futuro.-'ln. : i that' hope ;and.viii that confidence;.lie' looked i forward.With a serene and.untroubled gazo to what the future might.bring-forth: (Loud cheers.) . ...