VETO FIGHT.

Marlborough Express, Volume C, Issue 217, 20 September 1911, Page 6

VETO FIGHT.

THE FINAL DIVISION

DIE-HARDS IN THE LAST

DITCH

DRAMATIC SCENE

Newspapers to hand from London by the mail last week, via San Francisco, contein reports of the dramatic scene in the House of Lords on the night of August 10th, when the Parliament Bill, abolishing the Lords' veto, was carried* The Morning Leader account is utilised for what appears below. ;t Responding to an appeal of Lord Lan&downe, Lord Morley read out .these sentences:—

I am glad to take this opportunity of replying to a question put to me by Lord Lansdowne. It is a question which deserves and requires an answer that is plain, deliberate, and beyond all hazard of mistake. If the Bill should be defeated tonight his Majesty would assent to a creation ' t>f' Peers sufficient in number to guard against any possible combination of the different parties in Opposition by which the Parliament Bill might be exposed a second time to defeat.

Taking up <&n interruption of Lord Willoughby d© Broke-rrwho still maintained' with Lordl Selborrie, that the Government were bluffing—Lord Morley adedd: ; • This ia a pure and absolute delusion. Every rote given against the Government is a vote given in favor of a large and prompt creation of Peers. ■•■'•■•

With a look of stern determination' on his pale scholarly face. Lord Morley m«de the vital pronouncement to the House at a, critical moment. He read it over twice, ratpping the table v/itli his knuckles, raising his voice so that each syllable pierced1 every corner of the building. The combined result of these announcements produced1 an effect seldom seen in .the Lords. The words fell upon' the "crowded assembly like a sentence of doom. Throughout the afternoon the Die-Ha-rd® had been defiant and boastful v When the ■House -met, the.''result' of a. division could not 'possibly be foretold. All through!' the'erasMiug, both, before and after Lord' M«i3ey's the immediate fortunes of'the , Bill wavered in "the balance.

Lord Midleton, who was put' up by- the Lansd'ownifces to resume tno debate, made an earnest, indeed, & frenzied appeal to the minority within the Conservative party. They received liis argument with truculent interjections and scoffing laughter. The ordinary ice-cold courtesies of the House of Lords were cast aside, and at one point , Lord Midleton■ might have beeri addressing a quasihostile public meeting. "I require more 'courage to keen out of your lobby than to go into it, he shouted. The Die-Hards only smiled. He had made no effect upon them, though he spoke with passionate earnestness of. the danger'to the House of Lords if they forced upon themselves the creation of peers. LORD ROSEBERY'S APPEAL. Lord Rosebery, who had been watching the extraordinary scene from the cross benches, (appealed to Lord Morley as soon as Lord Midle*-, ton sat down. The HQuse,, he said,' Lord Morley tell them how many peers would be created? This was obviously a suggestion that the Government should lay at rest the story that, even if the Bill were defeated, only a few peeps would be created just as a.* warning. Lord Morley said he had intended to refrain from intervening in the debate till- after > the Lords opposite had stated their case to one another. At this there was a laugh, andi Lord Morley, speaking in very" grave tones, Raid, "I.find no cause for rejoicing in the unseemly controversy which is. going on upon the, Opposition benches." Be again suggested that ho might make his statement later 11 on, but Lord Lansdowne now . apr pealed to him to take this opportunity of stating from the Government Bench whether it was a fact that if the Bill were defeated a sutiioient number of peers would be; created to defeat any possible combination. - . ' ■ ■•■ The fact that Lord Lansdowne vised almost the same words as Lord Morley repeated later on, indicated tfciat Lord Lansdowne knew, but had found it impossible to convince Ms followers that he had grasped the situation, and that he required the corroboratibn of an official pronouncement. A CRITICAL MOMENT. Lord Morley thus appealed to. promptly responded instead of waiting to conclude the debate in the ordinary course. The meaning vpf it all was yeryj clear. The Die-Hards were working : with tireless energy, and Lord Lans- I downe feared that his men were slippinp- away from Mm one by one. Lord MidlotoiThad failed to turn back the stragglers. The Duke of ISiorfolfc s , special decree absolving Lansdowneite peers from their pledges because some of the original abstainers had indicated their intention of voting with the Government, was playing havoc with the party. The outlook was bkek. Ihe. tramp of the 400 new peers through the ou!;----e>r lobby seemed to be ranging m the «• (frighted ears of the leader of the Opposition. The tale that, the talk of the creation of peers was mere bluff was still being circulated, and Lord Lansdowne could not suppress And so Lord Morley was called1 to j the rescue. His words were plain, dear nnd emphatic. In the sentences quoted above be told them exactly what would be "the result if the DieHards won on the division that night. "If you think it is bluff you are sufferinp; from a Dine and absolute delus- . + ion," be said. ''Before you go into . that lobby reflect what you are doing." ' LORD ROSEBERY'S ADVICE, j Lord Rosebery glided up to thn tijble with a dramatic air of solemn- ■ ity. He had a lew preliminary words _ to -say about the enormous gravity of j Uie' situation. He blamed the Got- < cvnment for not advising the King io J {■»ek counsel with some other men <r j ex-Ministers, and then, throwing oub • his arms as- though brushing aside all j other considerations, lie cried, in loud, ringing tones, "Whichever side prevails to-night, ' this Bill must pass." Lord Halsbury interjected a word of doubt. Lord Rosebery. turning to him, asked. "How long rlo you suppose it could be kept off? Fortycight hours, o. week, a month?" This last period seemed to bo about j tlio extent of Lord Halsbnry's hope.",. f "What is a month in the life of a. nsi- ? t;-»n?" asked Lord Rosebery. "This

Bill must pass. I will take the longest period and say that by December 31st of this year this Bill will come into law. The only difference between the two sections which.are ©PP; osed to this Bill is whether it shall pass with an enormous creation or peers, or whether it shall,pass without that scandal and! constitutional strain." ..'".■ .'... WILL BE 'TLATTENED OUT." Addressing the Opposition at one moment in.a tragic whisper; the next in a voice that thrilled the crowded House, he pleaded, wiarned, at times 1 almost threatened. He quoted them 1 the example of tho Duke of Wellington, whose courage none of them could doubt, but who, by yielding in 1832, preserved the House of Lords for eighty years. In tones of despairing. resignation he said, "Nothing could now' restore the House of Lords .as it "exists to-day. The House of Lords as we have known it, disappeared. If this Bill- be* passed 1 now, Europe and the Empire will be spared-the sight'of a scandal, weshail still have left* <a certain amount of vitality. If not, we shall have loft to us no power, we shall be flattened out. Peers admitted under the most^ degraded franchise will be added co this bouse, and the ruin of this ancient -Assembly will be as complete as its worst enemies could desire." TORIES OUT OF HAND.

Whatever may be said about Lord Rosebery's speeches on other occasions,' there was nothing theatrical about this one. His long experience of. the House of Lord© told him that a cribioal situation, had arisen. The disciplined forces of the well-drilled Tory party wei*e out, of hand. Their leader could not control them. .Lord Morley's statement had clearly shown the danger, but men were still inclined to rush headlong into it, and Lord Rosebery was clearly terrified at the prospect. His speech had a marked affect on the House, but it did not convince Lord' Halsbury and his immediate friends. More than that, it failed to prevent a few wanderers from slipping away Ho their destruction. ' In the course of the evening the Duke of Norfolk intimated' that he intended to vote against the Government, so did Lord Halifax. HANG THE CONSEQUENCES.

Needless to say, Lord Milner took no account of the consequences. Lord Londonderry kept within the lines of the orthodox party. The Diike of Northumberland declared himself on the side of the "Die-Hards." '

And) so the night wore on with' some shouting peace and others war. It was a struggle, within the Conservjitive "party ? arid the Liberal peers'left them to settle their differences.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, lace in the evening, oame down on the side of voting for the Bill "with grsat r& luctanoe." i ~, ._..'■. The House, having agreed to consider the amendments, accepted, the Coftiinbite' ', alteration; !with^ regard: to the Speakeraftd his decision *as to what ,was a. Money Bill without a division; and then the debate centred on the Lansdowne amendment,,'leaving . Home Rule out of the operation of the Bill.

A scene occurred late at night, which showed! the temper of the ! House. Lord Heneage, a peace man, and Lord St. Leven, a Halsburyite, ; rose together. As the senior, Lord ; Heneage was entitled to the courtesy, : but Lord St. Leven declined to give ■; way. There were loud shouts from ; different crowds, each nominating \ one of the two peers, who I facing each other. The disturbance ! grew so noisy that the Lord Chan- ; cellor did* not at first hear Lord Hals-- | bniy move that Lord St. Leven bo I heard. Lord St. Leven was heard, » and declared himself a, "Die-Hard." Lord Heneage asserted that, like '. Lord Camperdown and . the Archbishops, he would vote with the Government rather than see the peers made.

Lord Curzon made another vehement appeal to his friends to follow the advice of their leaders, and talked' in his most superior style of the degradation of the House of Lords by the introduction of an element foreign to its traditions. Evidently all wasi not safe. The Lansdowneitos

were very anxious about the result At one point, when Lord Curzon was referring to the possible consequences;, the Marquis of Bristol, an ex-naval officer, leaped up, and in a, voice that could be heard on the foretop in a gale of wind, shouted: "That's because 400 peers are going to run away to-night." Lord Curzon tried to be haughty with the interrupter. "I would rather run away with the Duke of Wellington than stand with the noble lord," ue said. The breezy sailor with a vigor unusual m the House of Lords, retorted: "I would rather fight with Nelson at Copenhagen than run away with you." LORD HALSBURY'S APPEAL.

In a House packed to every corner. Lord Halsbury made one more stubborn effort to round up his> men. Ha succeeded' so well—the cheers that greeted him were so full of force that Lord Rosebery, coming again to the table, -declared that though he had asked noble lords to abstain from voting, he intended row to vote lor the Government.

Up sprang Lord Selborne to faco Lord Rpsebery with his words spoken on May 29th, when ho said1 he saw no use in prolonging the existence of a powerless Second Chamber.

THE DIVISION. The final division took place on the amendment to exclude Home Ru<e from the . Parliament Bill. Before voting on this the Lords had accepted the other Commons' proposals on th^ other parts of* the Bill—the amendment giving the Speaker two assessors from the Commons, and the dropping of the proposed t joint committee to define wh&tjare finance BSUs. When the division bell® rang, Lord Lansdowne led his men out . =of the chamber, and making his way to the balcony behind the throne with Lord Curzon and'^^rd" Midleton, leaned over the:'balcony eagerly watching the peers below as they *, filed slowly to the right of the throne and the left of the bar.

In tense silence tLe lobby doors were opened. A line of bishops came slowly up from the Government lobby. A file of peers led by Lord Landal* on crutches oame out of the Opposition lobby. Two bishops—Bangor and Worcester —were among them, and possibly they were proud in the possession of Lord' Cfanrioarde. The Duke of Northumberland came last, and then the door was closed. ' The men were still soaring out of the other lobby. Peeresses rose and. leaned over the :. balcony. Everybody ■watched the .face? of the leaders in the drama.

The- result was soon apparent. Lord Selborne sank back in his seat with a look of disgust. Lord Hald!ane smiled contentedly. The Liberal Whip, amid loud cheers, read the slip from the clerk, and took it to the Lord' Chancellory who read out the figures—giving a majority of 17 for the Bill.

The Government had won. Tha "Die-Hards" hissed in their disappointment, and the crowd slowly melted1 away. The crisis was over. The Government victory was brought about by the vote of'about thirty Unionists and the majority of the Bishops, who decided to support the Ministry in view of the evidence of the much .greater strength of the extremists above expectation. No Dukes voted with the Government.