The Evening Star THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1911.

Evening Star, Issue 14635, 3 August 1911, Page 6

The Evening Star THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1911.

,To all practical intents, the political crisis iu the Homo CounTh« try would appear to be Parliament at an end. The pugBiil. nacious excitement with which the Unionists reteived the announcement of tho King’s decision has given place, for the most part, to a sensible recognition of practical possibilities, though a remnant of desperate irreconcilables are still prepared to follow the octogenarian Lord Halsbnry in a sort of wild harakiri resistance to tho final stage of the Parliament Bill. It was only to be expected that the majority would ultimately accept the counsel of the responsible leaders of the party, Mr Balfour and Lord Lansdowno. As Mr Balfour pointedly and unanswerably observes : “ The action of those refusing “ to follow Lord Lansdowne does not “resemble any serious military opera- “ tion, nor does it require tho exercise “ of any military virtue.” Resistance to the death—the death of all Conservative power in the House of Lords

—might be magnificent, but it would not be war. Naturally enough, Lord Lansdowue and his supporters, while prepared in tho peculiar circumstances to refrain from impeding the final passage of the Bill, would liko to escape tho obligation of actually recording their votes in favor of proposals which they cordially detest. Some of them, however, will bo forced to submit to this unpleasant necessity if Lord Halsbury’s band of suicidal maniacs should appear likely to outnumber the Ministerialist peers. Tho Opposition have fought well and honorably, and they must accept tho inevitable for the time being, though we shall continue to regret that the controversy could not bo settled on broader lines. No exception can bo taken to Mr Asquith’s comment on the situation: There was nothing derogatory nor humiliating in a great party admitting defeat. They had only to convince their fellow-countrymen that they were right and tho Government wrong. They could repeal the iidl if they believed that the chance of a satisfactory issue might thereby be improved. When the internal dissension incident to the moment has passed away the Unionists will doubtless make preparations for accepting the Prime Minister’s challenge, in the spirit of Lord Kosebery’s letter to ‘ The Times ’: Let them rather resolve that, when tho swing of the pendulum places them in power, their first work will be the construction of a strong and efficient Second Chamber. They will not have to wait long. When the country is faced with the naked despotism of a Single Chamber Government it cannot fail to make an effort to be free. There are no signs of enthusiasm in the country, on one side or the other, though the Opposition arc holding thenown, to say the least, at tho by-elec-tions. They are not wresting seats from tho Government, but tho number of votes recorded for Unionist candidates has been materially increased in more than one instanc.