The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1894-03-17
ALMOST ACCOMPLISHED.

The amendment to the queens
speech abolishing the house of lords
which passed the commons was recon-
sidered yesterday, the premier an
nouncIng that something of similar
import would be introduced in the re-
ply to her majesty's address. This is
the most significant action that has
been taken by parliament for long
years, and shows that the democratic
elements In the empire are gaining
strength almost daily. The British
constitution. although not written
instrument, receives the veneration
appertainiDg to hallowed tradition,
and innovations are only made, if at
all, after careful deliberation. Here
tofore every advancement made in the
policy OF the government has been OF
such nature that it did not contravene
any of the provisions of the unwritten
law of the land, and magma charta
and the bill of rights were both con-
sidered simply declaratory of the prin-
ciples of the constitution. Neither OF
these were denominated revolutions,
in the usual meaning of the term as
indicative of complete change of the
fundamental law of the realm. The
sam. may he said of the late reforma-
tions effected through the agency of
the Liberal party, and which have made
England much freer than it was be-
fore. But by no process OF subtle
reasoning can the abolition of the
house of lords be placed in the list
with these, for ever since the Norman
conquest in 1865 the lords spiritual
and temporal have comprised the up
per house of parliament, whose sane
ton was necessary for the passage of
aay law.
Before the Normans landed in Eng
land, the Saxons in the Wittenagemot
annoyed considerable degree of free
government, and representatives from
the middle and higher classes made
hws for the people and frequently
elected the ruler. The conquerors
created the hereditary branch of the
legislature, and attempted by every
possible means to increase its power.
For long centuries the struggle be-
tween the people and The mobiles has
been carried on in the house OF lords
and the house of commons, and every
tyrant has AIMED to increase the au-
thority of the former and decrease the
power of the latter. ]t is to the credit
of the indomitable will of the Anglo
Saxons that the COMMONS have usually
been successful in :hese conflicts, and
as result there has been a steady
growth of freedom in the nation. The
Britons and the GaeIs made more
spasmedic efforts against the conquer
ers than the Saxons; but there has not
been that persistency in the struggle
manifested by the two former races as
by the latter. As a race name the
Normans have not been known to the
historian in speaking of the inhabit-
ants of England for centuries. The
characteristics of the people are those
of the old Saxons, and they are properly
classified as the Anglo-Saxon race. 1t
presents paradoxical instance of the
conquerors being conquered by the
vanquished, and othing butthe iron
will and persistent effort of the old
Teutouic race could have accomplished
this result.
But this conquest will not be COM
plete while hereditary monarchy and
the house of lords remain, and these
must be eliminated from the British
before the dream of
Anglo Saxon freedom will be COM
plete. This will be realized in the
near future, and the beginning of the
End of the Norman or lordly influence
n British politics Is now being experi-
,nced. For many dsca des. the house
If commons have been the law makers
IF Great Britain, and the throne has
simply heen respected as venerable
of antiquity. The house |
If lords has been quiescent in nearly
avery measure, until its recent revivi-
lcatlon In the defeat of the Irish |
lone rule, and this has sealed its |
loom. While the lords we're quiet |
md obedient, there was no thought
of them being menace
o the liberties of the people; but they |
,ave shown signs of life, and in such
manner that demands their complete |
.brogation as branch of the national
legislature. England must be wholly
rec, and there must be no attempt on
he part of the descendants of the
Normans TO reassert their old despotic
way. The Anglo Saxon race is pre-
and, although its members
re slow of action, when they move
hey are as resistless as the avalanche
nd as unyislding as the sides of Gil
,raltar.
EDITORIAL NOTES.