"THE MELTING-POT." LORDS AND COMMONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 134, 3 December 1909, Page 7

"THE MELTING-POT." LORDS AND COMMONS.

A LIBERAL MANIFESTO. GRAVE ISSUES. By Telegraph.— Press Association.— Copyright. (Received December 3, 9 a.m.) LONDON, 2nd December. In connection with the present political crisis, a National Liberal Federation manifesto states that the issues involved are as grave as any in the lifetime of the oldest voter. The victory of the Tory Party would involve the degradation of the Commons and the aggrandisement of the Lords, and a return to Protection, with its inevitable taxes on food. The electors will have to decide whether they wish to govern themselves or be governed by a few hundred hereditary peers, who have thrown the Constitution into the melting-pot in order to shift the burden from wealth, land, and liquor to food and necessaries. MR. ASQUITH GIVES NOTICE OF MOTION. BREACH OF THE CONSTITUTION ALLEGED. PROLONGED DISCUSSION NOT PROVABLE. LONDON, 2nd December. In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister, Mr. Asquith, was 'received with loud Ministerial cheers when he gave notice to move ' to-day :—: — " That the action of the House of Lords in refusing to pass into law the financial provision made by the House of Commons for the service of the year was a breach of the Constitution, and a usurpation of the rights of the House of Commons." The reading of the motion was hailed with a renewal of applause. The Unionist leaders have resolved not to propose an amendment to Mr. Asquith s motion, but to give a direct vote against it. • After Mr. Asquith's speech, Mr. Austen Chamberlain (formerly Unionist Chancellor of the Exchequer) will express the Opposition's views, .and Mr. A. Henderson will express the Labour Party's. The Nationalists will not participate in the division on the resolution. It is generally agreed, irrespective of party, that in a crisis of such gravity^ a prolonged discussion on the constitutional issue would be out of place. Lord Lansdowne has received telegrams from many Unionist Associations throughout the country, promising to support the House of Lords in its action.