The Hawera Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1926. THE DOMINIONS AND THE LORDS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 4 March 1926, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1926. THE DOMINIONS AND THE LORDS.

Delivered every evening by 6 o’clock in Hawera, Manaia, Nonnanby, Okaiawa, Elthara, Mangatokl, Saponga, Alton, Horleyvfllc, Paitea, Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamam, 0 hanged, Meretnere, Fraser Road, and Ararat*.

It may be assumed that the House of Lords is not particularly keen on reforming itself, in so far as reform may mean the disqualification of some peers from sitting in the Legislature. But there are other aspects of the question to be considered, and it is certain that some of the highly distinguished statesmen who sit in Britain’s second chamber will be taken into very close consultation before any move is made to change the present constitution of the Lords. This being so, the point raised by Lord Strathspey —that an effort should be made to secure Dominion representation in the House —niay not pass unnoticed. Although it is doubtful if the noble lord can command the ear of his fellows to any considerable degree, Ms suggestion has this value: That it comes from an overseas Briton. For Lord Strathspey was born in Oamaru, passed through the Waitalti Boys’ High School and entered the service of the New Zealand Post Office as any plebian young fellow might. The story of his translation from commoner to peer and his installation into the hereditary chieftainship of the Clan Grant has no bearing on the subject of House of Lords reform; but his colonial birth and upbringing entitle him to speak with some authority on such a proposal as this. We cannot see quite why there should be Dominion • representatives in the House of Lords and not in the House of Commons, nor, for that matter, why they should be in either place. The British Parliament is commonly called the Imperial Parliament, but it is so only because Britain is the Motherland of the Empire; in all other respects it is only the Parliament of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. If the time for an Imperial Parliament should ever come —and Imperial federation must then accompany it —that would have to be a body apart from the present British Parliament, and representation would have to be provided on a population basis, or on some other similarly equitable. That time is not yet. Possibly Lord Strathspey recognises these difficulties and suggests representation in the House of Lords alone as a i compromise. If the Lords would swallow their pride to the extent of admitting life peers, the Dominions might be persuaded to consider the proposal. So long as the change would involve the creation of colonial peers, Britons of the new lands are not likely to listen. It is undeniable that the British aristocracy, taken by and large, has much to commend it; undeniable, too, that a peer of the realm may yet be a man of simple heart and honest purpose. But colonial opinion demands that every man prove himself, and the colonial mind cannot accept the doctrine which says that one man is better than another, because his ancestor several centuries removed bought the favour of some impecunious sovereign of England.