The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-31

esting. Will the Liberals tamely acqui-
esce in defeat at the hands Of hereditary
legislators, a. they did when Mr.. GLAD
STONES second Home Rule bill was
thrown out by the Lords; or will they do
precisely what their opponents desire,
namely, dissolve Parliament and appeal
to the electorate; or will they frame and
carry through the Commons a bill pro-
posing the abolition Of the House of
Lords, or at least such drastic changes
in that body as shall make it responsive
to the popular will, expressed emphat-
ically at a general election? Acquies-
cence would undoubtedly cost the Ban
herman Government the support of the
English and Welsh Nonconformists, who
since the Revolution Of 1883 have
been so thoroughly determined upon
anything as they are TO put an end to
that feature Of tho existing Education
law which taxes them for the support Of
public schools where religious instruc-
ton is given by Church Of England
clergymen. As things are now, they are
taxed twice: first. for schools in which
nc seotarian instruction is given, and
secondly, for schools in which the doc
trines Of the Church Of England are
taught. Such a state Of things the Nom
conformists of England and Wales deem
insufferable, and in this opinion they are
upheld by most Of the Scotch Presby-
terians. Whether the Nonconformists
outnumber the members OF the Anglican
communion in England. as they certainly
do In Wales, Is a disputed question which
the census takers have not yet been
called upon to answer. There is, how
ever, little doubt that if Sir HENRY
CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN should appeal to
the country against the House of Lords
on the Education. bill he would obtain
a majority. It would be much smaller,
however, than that which he at present
commands, and it might quite possibly
be so small as to place him at the mercy
of the Laborites and Irish N~ationalists.
Naturally, the members of the present
Cabinet shrink from a test which in any
event would leave them far weaker than
they o are. They want to satisfy
the Nonconformists, but at the same
time they would like to appeal to the
that which is offered by the Education
bill. The programme, therefore, which
finds favor in many quarters is that,
pending the final rejection OF the Educa-
ton bill, measures calculated to please
Union Labor on the n hand and the
Irtah Nationalist marty on tho nfhnr
shall be driven through the House of
Commons and sent up to the Lords, by
whom they are expected to be thrown
out. The aim, in other words, is to make
the hereditary legislators offensive TO
every element of Britain's population,
and when a universal demand for its
abolition is excited to go to the country,
not on an Education bill, or an Irish bill,
or a Labor bill, but on the request for a
peremptory mandate to mend or end
the upper chamber. The shrewdness
of this policy is evident. II a general
election were to turn exclusively on any
one of the measures which thus far have
been introduced or promised by the Lib
eral Government, it is possible that the
electors might be divided with an ap-
proach to But among the
masses OF the voters the House Of Lords
has few friends, and if the naked issue
were presented it is probable that the
British people would refuse to tolerate
any longer such a medieval absurdity as
an hereditary chamber.
There are things that a great and
enlightened nation in the twentieth en-
tury will not stand, and one is to see it's
deliberate purposes foiled by m
Of the Carlton Club.