THE HOMELAND CRISIS

Otago Witness, 1 June 1910, Page 12

THE HOMELAND CRISIS

With the burial of King Edward VII the British political crisis will reassume j its place as the leading topic of national ' interest. It now concerns us more because of its bearing on Second Chamber reform. In view of the unsatisfactory state of our own Legislative Council as a nominative House, the ultimate amendment of the House of Lords must react on our own out-of-date system.. i In the National Review for April "The I Tactics of the Present Crisis," by J. Ramsay MacDonald.. M.P., occupies the place ' of' honour as first article. The crisis has changed since Mr MacDonald wrote, but ! there is more than enough in it to claim ' our interest and attention here. The famous Budget has become law, but King 1 Edward has passed away, and that has 1 added a new factor of uncertainty. In the course of his article the writer dis- ,; cusses the King's position and his prob- ! able attitude.

Mr MacDonald is frankly a pro-Budget man. He believes that the crisis was, 'in Calvinistic language, foreordained since 1832." In that belief he shapes his tactics. "A House of Commons elected by the people was bound to come into conflict with a House of Lords representative of certain economic interests and social prejudices." Mr MacDonald believes that the fibre of " both manual and intellectual democracy has been softening. Ideals of liberty, independence, self-government, have become bedraggled." In addition, " the anxieties of propertyowning, the worries of feverish competition, the snobbishness of the new rich and the commercial aristocracy, have made the supremacy of the House of Commons not only offensive, but uncomfortable to the wealthier and the more self-satisfied sections of the community. They desire the peace which comes from a knowledge that they are safe, that the old will continue, and that no cries of revolution will come over the walls of their pleasant gardens." The fight is between a class typified in the Lords and the nation in the person of the Commons. '' Two powers in the Constitution are at war with each other, and the dispute between them haiS to be settled, not by smiling accommodations, but by fighting." The recent election " was fought on two issiues—the Lords and the Budget." The latter is now passed, and the large part of Mr MalcDonald'e article wbjich deals with that historic document need not be further noticed. Mr MacDonald contends that the most impoiiant constitutional points involved must not be lost siY?ht of by ardent Radical and Labour ooliticians in their anxiety to get to close quarters with the Peers. He thinks the Commons ought to know the exact terms of the demand which is to be placed before the King. " The House of Commons, not the Cabinet, should decide how the Peers are to be dealt with." Until that is decided the King should (remain in official ignorance of what is going oh. In the event of the veto resolutions being thrown out by the Lords, what will happen? The Commons' majority Mr MacDonald estimated at least a hundred in favour of the resolutions. " The next stage involves the King. Will he or will he not assist the Commons? I do not see how he can refuse to do so; I do not even admit that another election is necessarv in order to make his course clear. The abolition of the House of Lords, or the limitation of its veto, was discmssed in every contested election last January, and every member of the House of Commons has his mandate on the subject The constitutional practice is, therefore, plain as a highway. Immediately after an election one of the major questions settled by the election is voted ■upon by the Commons and a majority of over one hundred is recorded. The House of Lords refuses to accept the result of the election.. The Commons must then have recourse to the King. What course can he adopt? A majority of nearly onefifth of the whole House must surely be an operative majority if there be any such, and puts a request for another election out of the question." I A strorug Prime Sfektar take

that view, and be surmorfced by the united enthusiasm of ths> Liberal and Labour parties. " The instant the House of Lords rejects the veto resolutions [Mr MacDonald thinks a bill, and not the resolutions, should be sent to the Lords], the Prime Minister should approach the King and ask that the will of the electors, as expressed through the House of Commons, should be made effective." If not, Mr Asquith should ask for a dissolution forthwith. And Mr MacDonald thinks the Liberal and Labour party could improve its present position at the polls. Mr MacDonald says it has been suggested that at the point when the Prime Minister has to approach the King a referendum might be taken on the Commons' resolutions. " This is quite unnecessary. It is a method of reference foreign to our British habits, and great risks would be run of an unsatisfactory poll and inconclusive results/' So ho strongly opposes the referendum as a way out. Mr Asquith " should simply attack his enemy. If he convinces the country he is in earnest he can win."