The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-10-17
BRITISH LORDS.

In the course of his recent speech in
Birmingham, where his friends think the
great orator equaled even his former eff
forts, John Bright said:
Now would you allow me to puta ques-
bon 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
N%othing!") To look at them as they are
entering the house or leaving the house
you would observe that they are very
much like other men. cloud laughter.)
They are not taller, they are not strong
er, 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. c'Hear,
heart" and laughter) and the great bulk
of the people would say that in some
respects they are greatly to be envied.
For example. the members of the house
of peers-the 500 persons or families
are reported to be the owners of one
ffth the whole of the land in the United
Kingdom. ("Shame!0
/ do not in the least object to any
man owning an estate which he has
honestly comedy. 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 tire 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 livings of the
Church of England. CShame!") If
this be So, her it follows that the house
of peers amongthem 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
lieutenants of counties. In that office
they appoint almost all the county mag
i~strates. The county magistrates admin
IotGl JuoplCS MtSSll LlatuSllUClJ, We'll GllSS
profess to do it Qaughter), and, with
some exceptions, we may believe that
they honestly, in the main, endeavor to
perform their duty.
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!J'
They have yet another popularity which
[ ought not to omit to mention, in that
as great owners Of land they are liable
10 q very much lighter taxation-di-
rect taxation-upon land than is the
case with any other class of land owners
in any European kingdom or in
the United States of America.
CShame!") Now, I have spoken
of the peers quite apart from the house
of peers.
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-1aughter)
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.
(Laughter.) I do not know why that dis
t~inction is made; but lyon 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 1t
is not because they have performed any
good or great deed that has recommend
ed them to the favor of their fellow
c%ountrymen; 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 a great ma
ton. 1t was once SAID in ages past
whether it was o dream or not | will
not say-that the path to the temple of
honor lay thro' tue temple of virtue
cHear, hear. )-but the law-making
peer, he never dreams that he is going
to the temple of Legislative honor thro'
the temple Of virtue. Gaughter.) 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. daughter and loud cheers.)
l was strnck the other day. with q few
words which I saw in one of the Psalms
OF old times. If you turn to the seven
ty-third Psalm you will find the words
l am going to read. Speaking of soE1e
very unpleasant and troublesome peo-
pie in his day, the psalmist says: "They
are not in trouble as other men,"
Qaughter) neither are they plagued like
other men," (Reuewed laughter
Therefore" he says, "pride compass
seth them about as a chain they speak
wickedly concerning oppression: they
speak loftily." daughter and great
cheering.) It becomes you to consider
this flct, that every bill which becomes
an act or a law in this country must
pass through their hands and depend
upon their vote. ("Hear, hear!"
The additions to the house of lords
may make it more powerful and more
numerous, but I have never found that
they make it more liberal. ("Hear,
hearty Listen to this fact. During
the last three years there have been
fifty new members enter the house o.
lords, not by creation-a few of them
only by creation. In the bulk by SIC.
cessions to their fathers. rShame!",
But when they go in they do as theil
fathers did. CA voice, Worse, worse. y,
!. Some of them do much worse thar
their fathers. (Hear, hearty The
fact is the breed remains unchanged,
and the honor of peers is un.
!, changed. There is no power unde,
heaven that can change them, anc
it rests with our countrymen. Iou6
cheers.) The fact is that prililege
eyerYMhera tends to hapet Ignorance