The Dominion. WEDNESDAY MARCH 9, 1910. THE BRITISH CRISIS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 761, 9 March 1910, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY MARCH 9, 1910. THE BRITISH CRISIS.

It is not unreasonable to suppose that the relative meagreness of the cable news relating to the political situation in the United Kingdom fairly reflects the general ' peace— though it', is only the peace of expectancy—which is the natural reaction from the fierce excitement of the last two months; At this distance from the seat of war nothing seems to bo quite so 'desirable'as a peace as long and deep.as;possible, in order that the patriotism of both parties may have as good a chance as possible against their party prejudices... it is too much to expect, however, that Lent is long enough to permit a cooling of.the fury of the extremists who, are driving both parties away from what the Dominions know is the reaLpoint, namely, the permanent welfare of the Kingdom. \Ve do hot icai'e much for "cohlproi rnise" : in this'part: of the world.it means shuffle as often as not; but there, are times. when compromise means the wisdom and sanity that the disputants may reach by making equal and opposite, abandonments of position. The Government contains elements which are by no means anxious to ■ reduce ■ . the House • of Lords to impoteridy; the. Unionist party does not entirely consist of reckless gladiators. . But the extreme members of the Unionist party want to embarrass the Government before anything else; and the Radical extremists will not suffer Mr. Asquith to use anything but dynamite, even although they know that dynamite will blow him up and themselves also.: It. is quite inconceivable that Mn. Asq^ithdesires to.inflict on.the, nation the evil- of an impotent and unrcformed House of Lords. .His career ib warrant enough for believing that he would personally like to see the' House of Lords reformed and its legislative powers left intact over all but purely financial.;proposals. But'he cannot with any hbpe of sue-: cess advocate that policy; however, strongly it may appeal to his patriotism and statesmanship. A cable message which we print to-day reports a'. speech by' Mn. Philip Snowden, oneof,the most authoritative of.the Labour leadcrsj in which we are given what appears to be the true reason for Radicalism's refusal to accept anything but the destruction of the Second Chamber. "The country," he says, "is not ripe fbr the abolition of the Hciise of Lords,'* but he does not .thereby mean that the House must be retained as a living organism. He wishes it to be retained, but. to be retained as ■ a dead body, incapable of influencing' legislation. Accordingly he objects to refoi'm: "Any reform of the House of Lords would mako the Second Chamber infinitely stronger against democratic progress." Me. Snchvden is a Socialist, and by "democratic progress" lie-means 'Socialism* What a very extraordinary case the case against the Lords must be, and how utterly hbllchv must be the fulminations . of the Radicals against .'.'hereditary tyranny," when any offer of refor'ni will be rejected as a greater evil than ever! . In the meantime the Prime Minister has definitely announced .thaV ''the Government will hot cdntihue in office unless it is. able to ensure that the Lords' Veto Bill will become law." He will nevertheless not wait for a decision of that difficulty before bringing in the Budget, for "subject' to unfofegeen' cohtiugfliicies, the House of Commons will bo asked, after its adoption of the veto resolutions, to assent to the Budget' be= fore the spring recess." The unforeSeeh contingency is, of course, as. the Daily Telegraph says, the determination of Me. B.BDMONIX to apply to the Budget the only- veto that really Matters just now unless the Lords are rendered incapable of blocking any Honle Rule Bill. It is incredible that tho Government can get a Veto Bill passed that' Will suit its own extreme, followers or the Nationalists, and incredible, therefore, that the Budget will be passed. The early defeat of the Government is therefore as Certain aa. anything political can be. This is in one sense a real •pity,-for it will postpone, p6rhaps. indefinitely, the settlement of the legislative status of the Lords, and everyone realises that until that question is settled there will lie no peace for Britain and no stability in British politics. In thelast week in January there wire signs that pointed.to the possibility of a peaceful settlement, .On. January 23 the Observer) which had until then been extreme in its hostility to anything but a slaughter of tho : Government, suggested that "Conference" oh the constitutional question might, take the place of "conflict." The Tithes next day gave a guarded encourage-' ment to the idea, and the Westminster Gazette responded from the other side; with the declaration—a most important cohcessidn from its prcvi- ! ous attitude —that "the reconstvue--1 tion of a Constitution is essentially

one of those tasks which call for cooperation among men of good-will in all parties." The Morning _ Post next day approved the suggestion of conference, and the Times went the length of affirming the possibility of drafting a Bill that "on the one hand would secure to the Commons full power over finance, and on the other would exclude abuse of that power by tacking to a Money Bill i questions asking for _ independent treatment." The Unionist press generally took the view that if Me. Aequith clung to the policy of Messrs. Churchill and LloydGeorge the Government would bo destroyed, but that he could save himself and do the best for the country by a moderate policy, in which the Unionists would be bound to support him. That the offer is stil'l open is clear from Mr. Balfour's speech which was cabled to us on Monday. The hopes of a compromise were speedily dashed, however, by the violence with which the Liberal press generally insisted on extreme measures. The Westminster Gazette was soundly trounced by its Liberal allies for its cowardice in talking of compromise. It remains to be seen whether, in the event of the Government resigning or being defeated, the Unionists will bringin a compromise measure dealing with the veto and the constitution of the Upper House. Every well-wisher of the Kingdom must hope that they will. We have, as we have often said, enough confidence in the patriotism and statesmanship of British public men to believe, that a right course will ' ultimately be steered through whatever storms may arise.