The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-09-30 00:00:00

gbtottrl)ribQc Obserticr.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30,1871.

THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

A good deal of mis-apprehension appears to
exist WI to the constitution and functions of the
House of Lords. Many writers and debaters use
di though they were convertal•le terms, the
words Peerage, Aristocracy, and Lords. The
House of Lords, however. is but a portion of
the peerage, and but a still smaller portion of
aristocracy. With the exception of the Arch-
bishops and Bishops, all members of the House
of Lords are peers, but all peers are not mem-
bers of the House of Lords. There is a consid-
erable number of Scotch and Irish peers who
have no law-making powers whatever; these
non-legislative peers elect certain of their own
body to represent their interest in the Imperial
Parliament, and such representative peers
chosen in Scotland for every Parliameut, and in
Ireland for life, are Lords of Parliament. The
House of Commons is very frequently spoken of
as the representative chamber, as if, by contrast,
the House of Lords had no representative char-
eater whatever. 'this, however, is seareely true.
Certainly the House of Commons directly repre-
sents, or is presumed to represent, the several
constituencies of the kingdom. We have our
county members and our town members, and
united body preenmably represents the entire
electors of the United Kingdom. No such par-
eellel • e;ete with regard to the House of Lords.
That august body has no direct representative
character F 0 far as eonstituenci•et are concerned,
though it is well known Veit each member of
the Upler House ie virtually a represeutave of
that territory over Odell hie power as a land-
lord extends, and therefore! that to some extent
he rept,eents a dixtriet and its inhabitants. But
though the House of Lords is not, strictly
speaking, a representative chamber as compared
with the House of commons, the Lords may be
said to represent classes. The clergy are re-
presented by the Archbishops anti Bishops ; the
legal profession and all interests connected
therewith are represented by the Lord Chan-
cellor andlthe law lords; country gentlemen by
certain well•known noble lords; the army in
the person of those great military commanders
whose services have been rewarded by patrician
honour.; and much the same may be said of the
navy. Nor are the manufacturing and commer-
cial .lasses wholly unrepresented, seeing how
many members of the House of Lords have
been drawn from their ranks. It may be rea-
sonably objected that the classes represented by
this legislative assembly are mainly the higher
and more influential classes of society ; hit on
the other hand it must be remembered that the
House of Commons is chosen by the entire elec-
toral body of the United Kingdom, of which
body the great working class is by far the most
numerous. _ _ _ . .

The House of Lords has of late years been
vigorously attacked by what are called the ad-
vanced liberal., and obloquy and abuse have
been heaped upon them mingled with futile
threats of sweeping them away as legislators.
We may safely aver, however, that the country
I. yet a long way from any such a revolutionary
change. We may well use the word revolution.
ary, for no snob a eonsummation could be af-
fected except through a revolution of so violent
a character that not the House of Lords alone
but many another institution would be carried
away by its waves. But though there is not the
slightest chance of any such a revolution as
this It is by no means undesirable, perhaps, that
the Birmingham Liberals should organise a con-
ference on the character and functions of their
lordship's house. Such a conference with le-
preuntatives from all the great towns in the
kingdom—always provided that these gentlemen
will assist at such deliberations--is not likely to
do mach harm, and may possibly do some good.
Conference suggests thought, deliberation, and
carefully worked out conclusions ; and we may
be easured that a conference on thi. nip rtatit
suhject will either not err ve at any revolution-
ary proposals, or if such propositions are placed
on record they will fall dead on the ear of the
country. For, indeed, the country at large can-
not decks any great constitutional change
Ever sinew the Reform Bill of 1882 the power of
the people has considerably increased. The
last Reform Bill, and to say nothing of many
other 000116i01111 of yrilding to popular demands.
has largely developed the electorel power of toe
groat mimed the inaustrial classes of the cone-
try; and several legitimate measures to which
reference could be easily made tend to show that
the power of the people as compared with thai
of the Hons. of Lords has grown, and is likely
to grow. Though we can well understand that
these are many advanced liberals, as they are
mined, who eonsider that legislative progress
has been slow during the last few years, we be-
lieve that lithe course of legislation, that is to
say daring the hat three sessions, be impartially
reviewed, it will be found that the two Houses
of Parliament, or in other words the legislature,
ham on the,whole, carried ont4the general wishes
of the community. Of course, on certain well-
known occasions the House of Lords has placed
itself in antagonism with the House of Coin-
Mon., and it may be well for the Birmingham
Liberals, or for any other body of politicians, to
consider how far continued antagonism ought
to be allowed to exist, and to debate the condi-
tions under which enforced harmony of action
may ultimately be produced. But on the other
hand such questions are, after all, bat mere mat-
ters of conference, and any conclusions thus ar-
rived at will be but so many opinions. The
House of Lords is too powerful an assembly to
be seriously disturbed by any resolutions which
a self-appointed and self-constituted conference
may choose to arrive at. For many centuries
the Upper House has maintained, through all
the political and social vicissitudes which the
country has suffered, a thoroughly deliberative
character; its assent to bills passed by the Com-
mons has been part of our great constitutional
system ; and the power of assent necessarily in-
volves the right to dissent. The Lords merely
exercise their just prerogative when they reject
a bill sent up to them by the i'munions; and
however annoying end vrsations this may be
to that party in the ritate which is in favour of
that bill, we must r ear it, ulitid that there is
another party which la opposed to it, and which
highly approves of that very action of the LJrd::
which calls forth so much vituperation from the
ultimately defeated section of the community-
The ballot, for example, is a case in point.
While the Liberal party generally desire it, it
must be admitted that there is a large minority
in the country that are opposed to it; and be the
i balance of opinion what t may, the House of
Lords, at the end of the last Session, had cer-
tainly the right to refuse to entertain so impor-
tant a change in our electoral system. To talk
of abolishing the House of Lords for such a rea-
son is simply nonsense. Their lordehips will
have the measure again before them, and for all
we know to the contrary, they may choose to
adopt it; bet whether they adopt or reject has
really nothing to do with the constitution of the
House of Lords. Of one thing we may be cer-
tain, that so soon as public opinion has acquired
sufficient momentum on any one subject the
Upper Huse will give way as it always has
given way. And with this consolation the coun-
try may well rest content.