Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1894.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 262, 13 December 1894, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1894.

From an English telegram published to-day it appears that Lord Rosebery is still busily engaged in his crusade against the Legislative body of Avhich he is a distinguished ornament. The Government, he said, would proceed Avith the Avork of the session in spite of the attitude of the House of Lords, J and the issue at the next general election would be simply whether the people Avere to be governed by the House of Lords or by themselves Of course no one who had in these days to devise a Avritten constitution for either a neAv or an old country Avould dream of setting up such an institution as a hereditary chamber, and if such a body were really to stand in the way of the clearly expressed wish of the great majority of the electors no venerable traditions would long save it f rom abolition. The present occasion, however, does not seem a judicious one for Lord Rosebery's attack. At the last general election Mr Gladstone's enormous personal influence and great [reputation were sufficient to secure a small majority in the Jlouse o£ Commons, In Eng-

land he was in a minority, and the same was the case in Great Britain generally. As was announced before the elections Mr Gladstone brought down a Home Rule Bill, but it was of quite a different character to his previous one, and many of its most important provisions had never been laid before the constituencies. It just passed the House of Commons, and the House of Lords did what any second chamber in the world would do with a great measure about which the wil of the people was uncertain, namely, gave them a chance to express their opinion by rejecting it, What followed, or rather what did follow, showed that the great majority of the people cared very little for the bil 1 . There was no serious agitation against the House of Lords, as there certainly would have been if the heart of the nation had been deeply stirred, and the leaders of the Opposition did not incur any unpopularity Now Mr Gladstone has retired, and Lord Rosebery reigns in his stead over a not very coherent party. Some of the measures introduced by the Government since he came into office have been thrown out or materially altered in the Upper House, and still the public are little moved. Lord Rosebery and others of his party agitate," or pretend to agitate, for a reform of the constitution, and several constituencies which at the general election returned supporters of Mr Gladstone by considerable majorities now return Opposition candidates. Election after election has of late gone wrong for the Government, and its Irish friends are becoming even more candid than ever in their friendship. To abolish a chamber without whose sanction no measure can become law is not an easy matter. Mr-Labouchere thinks that if necessary it should be done by creating a regiment of soldiers peers, but the country does not appear to be ripe for such a step. The probability is that sooner or later the peers will lose their legislative power and power of veto, but for the present Lord Rosebery appears to be fighting an nn-nill battle.