The Star. MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1910. THE VETO CONFERENCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9914, 1 August 1910, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1910. THE VETO CONFERENCE.

The statements made in tlio House of Commons by Mr Asquith concerning tho Veto Conference have been studiously but they indicate that a measure oi progress h&s tiSin made towards a compromise. JSsWSpaper reports 011 the subject* aro inevitably unreliable. To commence with, every membsr of tho Conference is pledged to secrecy, and we may be perfectly sure that special measures are being taken to. prevent the leakage of news that might create an uneasy feeling and so jeopardise the success of the negotiations. The leaders are bound, of course, to consult the party managers, because it would be useless for them to agree to measures that would be liable to opposition from their followers ; but the men honoured with the confidences of tho leaders are not likely to divulge the information entrusted to them.. In these circumstances wo may safely ignore the statements that have found publicity in tho London newspapers from time to time concerning the proposals before the 'Conference. The wide disagreement of tho reports is, in itself, enough to condemn them. But there is ijo reason to doubt the statement that, before the Conference was actuaVy agreed upon, a suggested basis of compromise had been submitted to .Mr Asquith and Mr Balfour, involving, on the one side, tlio continuance of the hereditary principle in tho constitution of the House of Lords, and, on the other, an undertaking that money Bills would not bo again delayed or rejected by tho Peers. It is not to ho supposed that the final compromise will take this shape, but' it is hinted that >f no other compromise is found acceptable. Mr Asquith and Mr Balfour would be personally willing to accept the suggestion as a modus vivendi for a, brief term, not more than ten years. That the Radical section of the Libo:al Party and tho Irishmen would agree to such a course is incredible, and the fact that tho idea is given wide credence in the Old Country really implies that tho popular estimator oi the strength of tho party leaders is not a high one. Bacon has laid it down that the hour of parleys is dangerous. In a sense, not intended by the essayist, it is so. Opponents who negotiate take their political lives into their hands. Tlio leader who concedes most will be doomed to obscurity. The Liberal who went back on his solemn undertakings now would never be forgiven, and if Mr Asquith comes away from tho Conference with less than a guarantee of immunity for Liberal policy measures sent up to the House of Lords lie may be written out of tho serious history of politics in the future. The Conference is fraught with peril for both parties, and more particularly it is fraught with peril for tho leaders who are taking part in it. There are always the Labour members and the Irishmen to be considered., and while tho workers may be satisfied for the time being with the assurance that measures of social progress will be passed, the Irishmen will not be appeased by any compromise that threatens to postpone the introduction, of a. Home Rule Bill indefinitely.