THE New Zealand Herald. and daily south cross. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 34, 1910. REFORM BY THE LORDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14303, 24 February 1910, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. and daily south cross. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 34, 1910. REFORM BY THE LORDS.

Lord Rosebery claims that the real issue in the United Kingdom is not the veto, but the constitution of the Second Chamber; this will be accepted as a fair statement of the .situation by all who are not obsessed by the passing political notion that a Single Chamber is the ideal of Democracy. As a matter of fact, there is not the . remotest possibility of the passage through, the-present Parliament, or through any Parliament which may be elected by the present generation of British voters, of a Veto Bill designed to deprive the House of Lords of an authoritative part in British legislation, provided, of course, that the Peers themselves take the initial steps to eliminate obsolete and indefensible features in the composition of their House. The Asquith Government may, if it 'pleases,- introduce a Veto Bill and devote weeks to its' discussion ; and may reject any Bill,' originating in the Lords, for the reconstructing of the membership of the Second 1 Chamber upon safe and moderate lines. But as the Lords would not agree to a Veto Bill, empowering the Commons to override their Opposition to any Bill sent up to them, and as the King would certainly not create enough new Peers to give the Government a party majority in the House of Lords, without a very much more decisive expression of public opinion, it" cannot be taken very seriously. Undoubtedly, if the Lords gave no sign of willingness to modernise their constitution, but sat stubbornly down to resist all attacks upon the unpopular hereditary side of the Chamber, the Government would have great hopes of securing an effective and sufficient majority upon a further appeal to the electors. But , any reasonable and intelligible proposition for Reform coming, from the Lords them-, selves would secure the sympathy of the great bulk of British electors, and would impose upon the Government the choice .between accepting it—as a practical alternative to the impractical Veto Bill— of going to inevitable defeat at a General Election. Incidentally, it may be pointed out that with the Budget out of the way, with the Lords offering the. olive branch of Reform, to Parliamentary voters, and with the Government acknowledging- the necessity for .a stronger navy, another General Election would see Tariff Reform the most prominent issue, and would very probably give the death-blow to the moribund fiscal system which stands in the way of Imperial Reciprocity and of Retalia-

Tory Duties. + The true reason for the bitter opposition of British extremists to reform of the House of Lords and for their intense desire to make the House of Commons an unchecked legislative body, is.,to be found in the notorious tendency of parties to sacrifice principle to office-holding, and in the recognised imperviousness of independent men of character and standing to dubious influences. The British judicial system is based upon the appointment of judges for life or good character as well as upon the principle' of trial by jury ; and no man of intelligence, British or. American,- would suggest that we should gain.by adopting the American system . of electing judges and magistrates -.for a short term. Those who wish to make radical and revolutionary changes in political and social systems naturally seek to ■remove all the barriers which ythe. wisdom of ages has erected against rash and emotional legislation. A Parliamentary group which has no hope of gaining a distinct Parliamentary majority, or of securing for its special cause the endorsement of that public opinion which sooner or later dominates all. public action, sees everything to gain and nothing to lose in selling its support to any Government which wants a majority, and which . gives in return,, practically as bribes, concessions it would never make under any other circumstances. - Mr. Redmond placed very forcibly and very clearly before the House of Commons the position of the Nationalists, and explained that their readiness to vote with the Government upon., the Budget depended upon the forcing through of a Veto Bill. "We are not going to pay this price for nothing," • announced Mr. - Redmond, truculently, as' befitted the leader of a group without whose support Mr. Asquith could not hold office for a single day against , the constitutional Opposition. Do -we need any more proof of the ■ absolute necessity for an independent Second Chamber, which will not be carried off its feet by the passing excitements of the day, nor 1 be bound* hand and foot by the compacts of party politicians'? The weakness of the House of Lords at the-present time is being taken advantage of by those who seek to remove wise and sound checks upon party government; and they advance the popular argument that the House of Lords has itself become a party Chamber—a contention containing sufficient truth to serve the purpose. But if there were gradually, eliminated from the House

of Lords its hereditary principle by creating no more hereditary members, and by giving to hereditary English peers only the privilege of representation by a limited number, as is the case with ' Scottish and Irish peers, then it ! would be an easy matter to make this historic Chamber the strongest and most representative "House" in the world. It always contains a remarkable number of the greatest men in the Empire, and a development of this selective principle, giving membership for life only, would at once give its deliberations influence and its decisions weight. Hereditary Peers and church dignataries have no admissible claim for legislative honours in modern States ; but the ablest, the wisest, and the most trustworthy, who. are averagely known to all but who do not usually dabble in the partisan politics by which mediocrities attain to democratic authority, are to be sought after as much as ever, and would constitute a powerful and serviceable House of Lords.