The Irish standard., 1893-09-02
THE UPPERHOUSE
A Timely Contribution From JUS
tin MCCARTHY on the British
House Of Lords.
AN INFAMOUS. INSTITUTION,
The Irish Leader Would Abolish it
for Resisting and Delaying
Every Great Reform.


Every Great Reform.
In an interesting article on "The Csc.
less House of Lords" in the North
American Review for August, Justin
.McCa' thy, the brilliant leader of the
Irish parliamentary party, scores the ar
istocratic peers as follows:
The House of Lords is the champion
anomaly of the British constitution.
Now, I do not by any means propose to
make myself responsible for the dogma
that an anomalous institution can never
render good service to a state. 1t is
quite conceivable that some institution
which had long out-lived it's original and
habitual use might nevertheless at vari-
Gus periods of public crisis come to play
an important and even a saving part in
the affairs Of the nation. But the pecu-
iiarity of the English House of Lords is
that it could not now by any possibility
play such part. The day of it's des
tiny is over; the star of it's fate has de-
clined
In former times there was indeed a
grandiose and high-sounding Tory doc
trine about the mission of the House of
Lords. The theory was that the House
of Lords was an institution Of something
very like heavenly origin, the function of
which was to step in between blinded
and maddened nation and that nations
self-aestruction. The nation, let us as
sumo, is going mad. Infamed by the
frantic and hyperbolical rhetoric OF some
wicked and self-seeking Liberal some
Fox, Or Grey, or Bright, or Gladstone :
the maddened nation is rushing on it's
own doom: It's clamoring for some in
sane project of lava reduced franchise,
FOR instance, system of taking vote by
ballot, throwing open of the national
universities to all persons without dis
tinction Of creed, or any Of those wild
revolutionary schemes, the accom- plish-
ment of which, as is we'll known, brings
states to their instant downfall. Very
well. Now here, according to the an
cient theory, comes 81 HE mission OF the
House OF Lords. Tho House of Com
mons has failed in its duty and has
passed measure to admit workingmen
to the franchise, or to protect the voting
citizen by the ballot, or to allow Roman
Catholics and dissenters to win all the
University honors they can. The House
of Commons has done this, aud the ma
tion is lost if the House of Lords does
not step in to save it. So the House Of
Lords steps in and saves. It rejscts the
popular measure which the House OF
Commons had passed-and behold a
rescued state
This was undoubtedly the ancient
Conservative theory concerning the bust
ness of the House of Lords. But the
theory has fallen into sad disrepute of
late years even among the Tories. The
House of Lords interfered to save the
state from Lord Grey's reform bill, and
it had to pass the bill all the same.
The only difference was that the bill
might have been passed quietly but for
the House Of Lords, whereas it was
passed because the storm Of popular in
dignation rose so high as to frighten the
poor peers into abject submission. It
will never, perhaps, be known with any
precision how near, how very near, Eng
land may have come to terrible revo-
luton while the House of Lords was
trying to resist the passing of the reform
bill Well, but il the House of Lords
has to give way whenever the people
loudly and firmly demand anything, what
is the particular use of the House Of
Lords? The part of savior of society
is no doubt very responsible and very
noble part; but of what possible advan-
tage is constituted savior Of society
who cannot save? Nobody believes any
more that the Lords can prevent the
passing of any popular measure.
What could the American public think
of an Institution that has resisted and
delayed every great reform proposed by
English craftsmanship? For that IS not
an exaggerated description OF the career
Of the House Of Lords. Every measure
carried by the Commons to extend the
franchise, to protect the humble voter in
his 1ischarge Of his electoral duty, to
make education national, to make the
transfer Of land free, to release the ten
ant from actual servitude to his land
lord, to introduce peace into Ireland by.
any process less stupid and brutal than.
TINT of g new coercion bill every such
8 naessure has been resisted il the first in