The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1910. THE BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1005, 21 December 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1910. THE BRITISH POLITICAL SITUATION.

The position that has been reached as the result'of the election in Britain is likely to be followed by developments of far greater interest .even, than was anticipated when the election commenced. The possibilities of the situation aro tremendous, lhe results to hand at time of writing' give promise of a slight increase in the Government's majority, although there is a romote chance that the figures; may be exactly the same as they were at the election in Janu-ary-last. .In any.case the Government can claim that the country has p n , d ,o[ sed in aspect of the riaiiKf j ' , and 11 will no doubt proceed on that assumption, ■it is quite apparent now that Mr. Asquith.will not.submit to any'material amendment'of "tho' 'Governments proposals in regard to the Lords, and much.less will he tolerate the idea of 'an addition to the Bill to provide for tho taking of a referendum On the subject. - What thon.is likely to h&ppcn ? The suggestion' of conferences or informal discussions' between leading men on either side as a means of ' finding a way out- of the difficulty, has a good dedl ■ to commend* it, but assuming that no arrangement can be arrived at, what will then be the .position.J- 1 - It' has to be borno in mind that - whatever interpretation may bo put on the election returns, the fact remaifts that the Government has been .twice,"' returned ; within twelve months- with a working majority pledged to take such action as will_placo jij beyond- tho power of the House of Lords'to exercise what is termed, for election purposes, the power of veto.' The proposal of the Lords to reform themselves does not suit the'..plans of ; "the Government, and any compromise therefore likely to be at all acceptable to tho Government must necessarily be in the nature of a tremendous sacrifice by the Lords. If matter could be approached in. a quite unbiasod manner and .free from all party heat, it is quite probable that an understanding could bo arrived at satisfactory, to both the principal parties in Bri- | t-ish. politics.. But with the Nationalists and the Labour party holding the Government at their mercy and forcing them on, this now seems hopeless. It is impossible to believe that the Lords will accept tho Bill so radically altering their constitution and curtailing their powers without amendment or the addition of' a proviso to submit it to a referendum of the electors before it is brought into operation. And this bcing_ so the Government, assumingthat it insisted on the Bill, and nothing but the Bill, would be brought to a standstill, and would eventually have to turn to the, King for assistance.. The only assistance that could be granted by, his Majesty, apparently, would be in th'c way of granting a further dissolution— which probably would not be welcomed—or by appointing a .sufficient number of Peers to .ensure the passing of the measure through the Upper House. • But would his Majesty feel justified in adopting this latter course of swamping the House of-Lords with new Peers created only for that purpose ? It-has to be borne in mind that the election, though nominally contested on the question of tho reform of the Lords, was actually fought so far as the great majority of the Irish seats were concerned on quito a different issue. ' The Nationalists -care very little,, if anything at all, about the l constitution or_ powers of the Upper House, except in so far as the Lords are a stumbling-block to Homo Rule. The King, therefore, may not be prepared to ignore the circumstances under which the Government have maintained their majority, and may not consider that the election results have sufficiently disclosed the voioe of the people regarding the Lords. In that case the referendum proposal would no doubt be put forward as an alternative to another dissolution. There is little to be- gained from speculation as to how tho Government would act in such circumstances. Their allies, no doubt, would mako a very great noise, but it is quite possible that the cffoct on the bulk of tho public would be to strengthen the feeling in favour of a referendum as the safest means of escape from a dangerous situation.