The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1910. THE END OF THE STRUGGLE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12649, 17 December 1910, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1910. THE END OF THE STRUGGLE.

To-iuy Avill be fired the last shots in the battle of the polls which lor tho post fortnight "has been raging in the Mother Country. Not until early next week shall be know the exact statw oi the rival parties, but for all practi-" cal purposes ithe results already announced are sufficient. It is now evident that the election will leave the rplsitive strength of the Liberals t and Unionists much the same as in the last Parliament. This means, of course, that Mr. Asquith will be able to carry the Veto resolutions in the House of Con.mons for the second time. In view c,i the fact that the primary issue of the election related to the constitutional position of the House of Lords, it h interesting to recaj| the precise terms of the resolutions which were adopted by the Commons eight months :»go. The first affirmed that "it is expedient that the House of Lords be disabled by law from ' rejecting or amending a money Bill." And as ths question of what constitutes a money Bill is, as we saw when the Finance Bill was before the Imperial Parliament last year, not free from doubt, the resolution proceeded to define a money Bill. "For the purpose of this resolu•tfon," it said, "a Bill shall be considered a money Bill if, in the opinion of the Speaker, it contain only previous dealing with all or any of the following .-.- subjepts—=-*nsvmely,. the imposition, rf-peal, remission, alteration, or reg'ula- ■ tion of taxation; charges on the Consolidated,, JTund or the provision of money by Parliament; supply^ the appropriation, control, or regulation of public money; 4he raising or guarantee of any loan, or the repayment thereof; o ■ matters incidental to those subjects or any of them!*-'■; This resolution was, -after an amendment submitted on behalf of the; Opposition had been disposed of, carried in the House of Commons by 339 votes to 237. The second resolutions dealt with ordinary legislation. It provided: "That it is expedient that the powers of the House of Lords, as respects -Bills other than money Bills, 'b© restricted by law so that any such Bill which has passed the House of Commons -in three successive sessions,sand, having bsen sent up to the House of Lords at least one month be.fore the end of the session, shall become law without the consent o? the House of \ Lords, on the Royal r.ssent being declared: provided that at least two years shall have elapsed between the date of the first introduction of the Bill in the House of Comnvons and the date on which it passes the House of Commons for the third time. For the purpose of this resolution a Bill shall be treated as rejected by the House of Lords if it has. not K-f-en passed by tho House of Lords cither without amendment or with such amendments only as may be agreed upon;by both Houses." Various amendments, that were designed to exclude -different classes of legislation from the '-_ operation of this resolution having been defeated, the resolution itself was car-, ried by a majority of 105 votes. The third ■-•■resolution, affirming the expediency of limiting <the duration of Parliament'to five years, obtained a ' majority of 98 votes. As we have said, it may bs taken for gvaiitsd that those principles will bo re-affirmed By the [opular Chamber, but It is impossible to foretell the jittitude of the' Houss of Lords with the same degree of conndence. It should be remembered, however, that the Peers are themselves pledged to a measure of reform, as outlined in the counter purposes submitted by the Marquis of Lansdowne in the House of Lords a day or two Vefoi'b'the dissolution. These proposals provide that in the casa of differences .•1 rising between the two Houses on Bills other than money Bills a joint ! sitting should be held of the Commons : on ths Lords, ihe latter being recon- i stituted and of reduced numbers in ; ccordance with the resolution adopted by tlie House of Lords a few weeks : ago on the subject of the reform of but that in matters of great | gravity the disputed Bill should be submitted to a referendum of the country. Lord Lansdowne's resolutions provide further that the Peers should forego thfi right to reject or amend | purely money Bills, but the questions of "tackling" should be settled by a joint committee o£ both Houses, and if the committee decided thaj; t.ho

measure was not purely a financial one, then the Bill or provisions so consider-ei-1 should b?. dealt with forthwitli by a

joint sitting of both. Houses. In the .face.of these proposals, and of the approval given by the majority of the 'eonstituer.cies 1 to the more drastic provisions of ths Government's resolutions, it is reasonable to suppose that the Lords will realise the futility of continuing a policy "of stubbord obstruction and show a disposition to consent to a satisfactory readjustment of the relations between the two Houses.