Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-10-10
BRITISH LORDS.

birmingham, where his trends think the
great orator equaled even his former eff
forts, John Bright said:
Now would you allow me to put 3 cues
lion or two to you, and, in some sort, to
myself? Ishould like to ask you who or
what are these peers who take upon
themselves this authority (Cries of
Nothing!a) To look OF them as they are
entering the house or leaving the house
you would observe that they are very
much like other men. cloud 1aughter.)
They are not taller, they are not strong
ser, they have no claim, I believe, to be
called more learned. cloud laughter.)
We know that the bulk of them are not
more accustomed to business, and we
believe that we feel that they have less
sympathy than other men with their
fellow countrymen. (Cheers.) Now in
some respects they are peculiar. csHear,
hear!" and laughter and the great bulk
Of the people would say that in soue
respects they are greatly to b. enyied.
For example. the members of the house
Of peers--tbe 500 persons or families
are reported to be the owners Of one
fifth the whole of the land in the United
Kingdom. .'Shamer') #sS%
/. [ do not in the least object to any
man owning an estate which he has
honestly come by. I would not deprive
landowner, or manufacturer, or mer-
chant, or shopkeeper, or laborer Of any.
thing that is his; and i am not calling
in question the legality of the owner
ship of all this land by the 500 peers or
peers families, whose claims we are
now discussing. But, besides this, I
see it is reported that the 500 peers are
possessors OF not less-I believe conrid.
erably more-than 1000 ivings of the
Church of England C"Shame!") If
this be so, then it follows that the house
Of peers among them can appoint, and do
appoint in the main, several thousand
teachers of the people in what are to be
considered the highest things. Besides
this, the house of lords, or members of
that house for the most part, are lord
ieutenants of counties. In that Office
they appoint almost all the county mag
istrates. The county magistrates admin
lister justice wisely Qaughter), well they
profess to do it Qaughter), and, with
some exceptions, we may believe chat
they honestly, in the main, endeavor to
perform their duty. ii.
Beyond this, again, the members
of the house Of lords, the great land
owners, as you know, exercise a very
powerful control over the county rep
resentation. There are counties in
which the whole representation, with
out fear OF contest, will be found to be
in the hands of two, three, or four MEM
bers of the house of lords. C"Shame!y
They have yet another popularity which
l ought not to omit to mention, in that
as great owners Of land they are liable
10 a very much lighter ttlxation--di-
rect taxatior--upon land than is the
case with any other class Of land owners
in any European kingdom or in
the United " States of !. America.
C'Shame!") Now, I have spoken
of the peers quite apart from the house
of peers. 7y@,. ss.$1ta.a'.lss
But now we come to the question OF
their position in the house of lords, be-
cause that is what we have now to deal
with. ((Hear, .hear.) We call them as
you know, the upper house Qaughter)
and when a bill leaves the
house Of commons it has gone up
to the house of lords, and if a
bill comes from the house of lords it has
gone down to the house of commons.
daughter I do not know why that dis
tinction is made; but you will consider
this fact-that the members OF the
house Of lords do not enter that house
in any degree from any personal merit
that attaches to them. Hear, hear.) It
is not because they have performed airy
good or great deed that has recommend
ed them to the favor of their fellow
countrymen; It is not by the choice of
or by the approval Of their fellowmen
that they become members of the house
Of peers and legislators for great ma
ton. It was once SAID in ages past :
whether it was dream or mot I will
not say-that the path to the temple of
honor lay thro' the temple of virtue
C'Hear, hear. ")-but the law-making
peer, he never dreams that he is going
to the temple oflegislative honor thro'
the temple of virtue. Iaughter.) But
if he does not know, we all know that
he goes into the temple of honor
thro' the sepulcher Of a dead an
cestor. Laughter and loud cheers
/ was strnck the other day, with few
words which saw in one Of the Psalms
of old times. ii you, turn to the seven
ty-third Psalm you will find the words
I am going to read, Speaking Of some
very unpleasant and troublesome peo-s
pie in his day, the psalmist says: They
are not in trouble as other men,
Qaughter) neither are they plagued Like
other \ men" (Renewed laughter
Therefore hetsays, "pride compass
seth them about as q chain; they speak
wickedly concerning oppression; they
speak loftily." Laughter and great
cheering It becomes ron TO consider
this fact, that every bill which becomes
an act or a law in this country must
pass through their hands and depend
upon their vote. lsHear, hearty
The additions to the house Of lords
may make ii more powerful and more
numerous, hut I have never found that
they make it more liberal. "Hear,
heart Listen to this fact During
the last three years there have been
fifty new members enter the house of
lords, not by creation IA few of thern
only by creation. In the bulk by s1c-s
cessions to their fathers. e. Shame VI
But when they go ii they do as their
fathers did. GA voice, II Worse, worse. .
Some Of them do much worse than
their fathers. Hear hearIn D The
fact is the breed remains unchanged,
and the honor Of peers is un-
changed. There IS no power under
heaven that can ohange them, and