“THE HEMLOCK MUST BE DRUNK.”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7848, 10 July 1911, Page 6

“THE HEMLOCK MUST BE DRUNK.”

The parties in Britain which are respectively preparing and obstructing the pathway of legislative progress must very soon come to close quarters. The Bill to take the veto from the Lords is now in its final stages in the Upper House, and as it has been amended in directions the House of Commons cannot agree to, a clash between the two branches of the Legislature can only be avoided • by the peers yielding. 'Whether they will take this course depends mainly upon their judgment; or perhaps we should say upon how far the wiser peers can restrain the revolutionary Marquis of Lanedowne, This gentleman has had rather a merry career during the last oeuplo of years. He has rejected a

Budget; he has dissolved Parliament; ho has invited tho peers to commit suicide by accepting a reform scheme which, on his own admission, would prove a death-blow to tho Houso of Lords as we know it. In brief, he lias set himself up as an authority greater than any—higher than tho people or tho ’Government —and with tho acquiescence of hundreds of backswoodsmon has met with practically complete success—np to the present. Now, however, comes tho tug-of-war; within a comparatively few days we shall know' whether the last stronghold is to ho taken .by assault or by surrender’. Two amendments have been made to tho Parliament Bill, and a new clause is promised when the House of Lords reports tho measure from committee. In clause 1 the authority of the Speaker to decide the definition of a Money Bill has been altered by providing that this duty shall devolve upon a committee of fourteen members, half from each Houso. Tho fundamental object ion to this—-an objection that quite disqualifies tho amendment in tho view of tho Government—is that it undermines .the undoubted right of tho Commons to govern finance. Another fatal defect is the practical impossibility, owing to tho. character of the Houso of Lords, of; obtaining any committee that W'ould not bo bent upon defeat of tho Liberal j cause. Tire second amendment (to clause j 2) tears the vitals out of tho Bill by j exempting from its operations “any Bills affecting the existence of tho Crown; tho Protestant succession; Homo Rule for Ireland, Scotland, Wales or England; or anything which a joint committeo of tho two Houses regards as an issue of groat gravity, upon which the judgment of tho country has been insufficiently expressed.” This, of course, is Lord Lansdowno’s contribution to tho measure. It leaves tho Government and tho Liberal party, thrico supported by tho constituencies, an empty husk—a Bill that is not a Veto Bill for any practical purposes, but is merely a pretence at legislative improvement wrung from the unwilling peerage. These amendments will ho rejected by the Houso of Commons. The clause which -it is intended to add, on Lord Newton’s motion, is much less objectionable. This provides that tho legislative powers of the Houso of Lords shall not bo limited further than the ; Parliament Bill limits them until after tho next general election. Tho suggesj lion by Conservative newspapers that this clause may become a “basis for j compromise” seems a hopeful sign that ’ the Lords will yield to common-sense [ and accept tho inevitable; and when a I journal liko the “Daily Telegraph” publishes a “remarkable” article (though wo do not atiaeh much importance to tho adjective) telling tho Lords they must “drink the hemlock,” the situation seems still brighter. If tho Conservatives are willing to forego their 1 amendments in exchange for tho Government’s acceptance of Lord Newton’s clause, we should be inclined to say that the smooth passage of the Parliament Bill could thus bo purchased at a low price. It will undoubtedly be advantageous if Britain can pass through this crisis without embroiling the King in the turmoil of party battle, l That is a matter, however, that depends 1 upon tho peers alone. It all hinges ’ upon whether or not they can recog- ! nise that tho game is up.