The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19, 1910. THE VETO CONFERENCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14328, 19 October 1910, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19, 1910. THE VETO CONFERENCE.

In our cable news yesterday we were given the opinions oi: three Labour members on the Veto Conference between leading representatives of the Liberal and Conservative parties, which was set up in order that some agreement might be arrived at, if possible, with regard to the power of the House of Lords to veto Bills passed by the Commons. The Labour members express themselves in opposition to the Conference, which they hope will end in disaster. No doubt they represent the view of the Labour Party as a whole, and their opposition to the Conference may be construed to mean that instead of merely thinking, with the Liberals, that the power of veto of the House of Lords is excessive, they think the House of Lords a mischievous and superfluous institution in itself. Mr Ramsay Macdonald, a leading member of the Party, has declared that it is oppressed to the present legislative i%)wers of the Peers. "It has made no official pronouncement upon second chambers, but as those institutions have failed wherever they have been tried, I imagine if the pronouncement were made it would be in support of a unicameral system." Prom time to time conflicting conjectures have reached us as to what is likely to be the upshot of the Conference. On the one hand it has been suggested that the Conference is considering " Home Rule all Round," and that, as this new issue will require much longer consideration, the truce between the parties may be continued throughout next summer, and legislation of a constitutional character brought forward in the autumn. "The Times " records an opinion said to prevail in wellinformed circles that if the leaders propose an arrangement between the parties the Government will withdraw their Pill and retain office throughout 1911. The idea that the Conference may be ' considering Home Rule all Round is strengthened by the presence of Mr Birrell, an apostle of devolution, among its members, and by the direct bearing of the veto question upon the Irish Home Rule movement. On the oiher hand we cannot think the Unionists will be willing to allow the truce to be continued longer 111 an is necessary. If the Conference should prove abortive, Ihe general election of which we have heard repeated hints would be precipitated, and a large number of the Unionist members, who have already been chafing against the Jong delay, have made no secret of their desire to have a Unionist Government in power when the Imperial Conference takes place next June. It would seem, therefore, that the Liberals have more to gain by prolonging the deliberations than their opponents, but we find the "Daily News," a leading organ of that party, protesting also against delay. "The Prime Minister and his three colleagues on the Liberal side," said that paper in an issue which came to hand by the mail yesterday, "may be assumed not to ignore the importance of time from tho Liberal standpoint. So important is it that, while quite echoing all that Sir Edward Grey said as to the advantages of a Conference settlement, we are inclined to add that the Prime Minister co»Jd only be justified in carrying the attempt' to obtain one over the Parliamentary adjournment by an expectation of success amounting to practical certainty."

Considering the strolls' feelings of both parties on the question, it seems hardly possible for the Conference to arrive at a conclusion satisfactory to them both, if its deliberations are confined to the strict issue of the veto. An anticipation of its finding 1 made when the last mail left on the authority of Lord Cawdor was as follows :- — (1) That the Lords should retain some power over finance. (2) That the Lords should be strengthened by the admission of a representative element, particularly from the colonies and Ireland. (3) That any difference between the two Houses should be settled in a joint.sitting—the Commous being represented pro rata, and the Lords by au. equal number of cu-h side, in politics. It is hardly to be expected, however, that a compromise on these lines woull be accepted by the Liberals after the destructive language they have used. The latest conjectures cabled in regard to the Conference—and only comments and conjectures have been so far received—are to the effect that it has reached a critical stage, and that the result of its deliberations will soon be made known. It is certain that no Conference ever met whose report wag aw;'' 1 " with such world-wide interest.