New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-09-05
THE BRITISH CRISIS.
,pppNpER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS.


IlBERALs-THE GOVERNMENT UNDIsTURBED-
ATTITUDE OF THE EXTREME RADICALs-LoRD
sALIsBURY's FATAL INDIsCRETIoN-MR GLAD
sroyE's MAGNANIMrrY AND FORBEARANCE-THE
land BILL ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED.
svpox THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUSE.l
IoNpoy. Aug. 1.-The crisis has lasted four
IA and is over. 1t began with the No Surrender
letting of the Peers at Lord Salisburys house in
alin. tor,-st last Friday afternoon. 1t ended with
orotber meeting yesterday afternoon in the same
Mace when the same motto was adopted with the
No left ont The decision then taken to pass
Aha Land bill In the shape in which the House OF
Commons had lett it on the Monday evening before.
ana this decision carried into effect last night
There are politicians and political writer's who, be-
canse the crisis lasted no longer and because 1T
ended without violence doubt whei her it was much
IF crisis after all. They might as well doubt
whether there was much of crisis when we took
Mason and Slide of the Trent or when Mr. Adams
remarked in his quiet way to Lord Russell that his
Government would regard the sailing of the Alex
andra as an act of We surrendered the Rebel
Commissioners and Great Britain stopped the Rebel
;ronclad and in both cases hOstilites, otherwise
certain were prevented. Lord Salisbury also has
surrendered, and the threatened campaign against
the House of Lords is checked at the outset by his
surrender. But the crisis, and the danger to the
body of which Lord Salisbury leader. were of the
mos, real kind Few moments in modern English
history have been grave.
/ need refer IN the briefest way only to what had
happened publicly in the nierval between Friday
and Tuesday You know already how the country
took up the challenge of Lord SALISBURY; what the
Press said what preparations were made for public
meetings, and for other more formidable demon
strations; how the Liberal Associations all over
she country assembled what resolutions they
passed, and what resolutions were adopted by the
body most representative among all of Them the
National Liberal Federal Association. The meeting
of this last body at first called for Wednesday. was
put forward by telegraph to Monday, when hun
dred and fifty delegates from all parts of the king
DOM each delegate the deputy of an important con-
stituency, came together in London This meeting
spoke for the Liberal party as party 1t was not
gathering of extremists or idealsts or men with
crotchets but of the practical managing Of the
party whose business 1t is to win elections. What
did they sayf They declared their deep of
the unwisdom and injustice of the adopted by
the House of Lords in dealing with the Irish Land
bill. They urged the Government to adhere TO the
bill as 1t left the House of Commons. aud, on be-
half of the Liberal party throughout the country
they offered to Her Maiestys Ministers their hearty
and unyieding support in their efforts to resist the
dictaton of class minority in the House OF Lords
And lest the Lords should not think that language
plain enough they further resolved that the policy
of the majority of that House tended directly to
compel the country to consider the possibility of
sble and hereditary chamber to defeat the WI of
the Nation as expressed by its elected represen Ia
ives.
AS for the Press it is enough say that in London
out of seven morning papers, of which but two are
Liberal, not supported Lord Salisbury. In the
provinces the immense majority unreservedly con-
demned his policy. More than thai. The Press every
where took the lead IN that remarkable transfer
of opinion and interest from engrossing subject
the Land BILL to another subject which all at
took precedence of the other; the legislative power
of the House of Lords and the expedency of re-
modelling the Constitution by abolshing the legs-
lative power of the House of Lords. | never knew
anything politics more remarkable than that
transformation. that instantaneous shifting of the
centre of political interest.
The Government took part whatever in pro-
noting this movement of opinion. They fomented
no agitation. They uttered not a single word on
the topic which filed evervbody's mind, and was
first the lips OF everybody not member of the
Government 1t is not too much to say that half a
dozen sentences of encouragement or even of re-
cogntion from Mr. Gladstone would have turned
the agitation against the House of Lords into an
irresistible movement for it's immediate overthrow.
If he had been the his enemies delight to paint
him, he would have spoken those sentences.
Being, however, Minister with asingularly delicate
of Ministerial responsibility. and wholly
averse to all unnecessary disturbance of the ex-
listing system he kept silence The forces he could
instantly have marshalled behind him would have
been more powerful than have been seen in motion
since 1872. have said often enough in discussing
what is called the Republican movement n Eng
land, that there no important party among the
PEOPLE which made it their first object TO upset the
Throne. There is very numerous and powerful
section which has, perhaps, great respect for
Throne or Crown, but which, nevertheless is in no
particular hurry to substitute elected President
for hereditary Monarch, The reason is that They
do not think the Sovereign obstacle or. the
principal obstacle, to the reforms they most want To
effect, and being above all things practical people
the English Will tolerate any abuse or anachronisn
or usurpation which is not inconvenient to them
They want the Radicals Of whom / am speaking Il
get rid of the Church. They want universe
suffrage They want or will want, some alUera
ton In the tenure of land and want other things
more less urgently. They have long seen tina
the House of Lords was likely to resist othe
schemes of revolutionary kind and 10 use sucl
powers were left them to obstruct them. Thu
Crown, they were well aware had long since re
hnquished its claim to direct interference witt
legislation. But the House of Lords had not relin
pushed its claim. In modified way, the Lords
were yearly asserting it, and on questions which
interested them they nterfered as far as thew dared
aud opposed and delayed the measures desired b,
the Nation, The repeated use of this powe
of opposition and delay had given rise to
feeling of irritation, and, among rehectn,
Radicals. to doubt whether before attempting
any further reform, it might not be more expedi
tious for all to reform the House of Lords
They did not much object to the legislativ
authority of the Peers because it was hereditar
aud irresponsible. as because it was inconvenient