Lords and Commons.

Northland Age, Volume VI, Issue 34, 18 April 1910, Page 5

Lords and Commons.

In the House of Commons last Tuesday Mr. Asquith moved the second of the Government’s resolutions for abolishing * / the power of veto possessed by the House of Lords, viz:— That it is expedient that the power of the House of Lords respecting bills other than money bills, be legally restricted, so that when a bill is passed by the House of Commons in three consecutive sessions and is sent to the House of Lords at least a month before the end of the session, and is rejected by the House of Lords in each of the three sessions, it shall become law without the consent of the House of Lords, upon tho Royal assent, provided that at least two years shall have elapsed between the first introduction of the bill in the House of Commons and the date when it passes through the House of Commons for the third time. Bills shall be treated as rejected if not passed by the House of Lords without amendment, or with •nly amendments agreed to by both Houses. Mr. Asquith emphasised that the absolute veto of the Lords would remain untouched, except where there was an overwhelmingly strong presumption that the House of Commons’ decision expressed tho people’s opinion, ne admitted that there were conceivable actual cases in which the decision of the House of Commons might not represent the Opinion of the people, instancing a ■cratch majority banded together under the coercion of party exigencies for particular transient purposes, or a crumbling majority which had lost popular favour. Therefore a Second Chamber, even luch as the present House of Lords, had its uses, ana ought to be allowed to exercise its powers to prevent ths abuse of constitutional forms. Mr. Asquith added: “Though the preamble of the Veto Bill foreshadowed a change in the Second Chamber’s constitution this would take a long time to bring about, even in the most favourable circumstances, hence the operative clauses would not travel bsyond the resolutions.” Ths debats has not concluded.