Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-30
starting anything like big row when
can be avoided.
Inherited Ideas.

Since 1885 the conservative majority in the
house of lords has been overwhelming in
magnitude. The number of avowed liberals
among their 600 members is only about
forty-fve That is what causes the trouble;
that is why they cannot be made to fit into
any form of representative government
which is supposed to reflect the political
views of the majority of the people for the
time being. Common folk change their
opinions. The lords inherit theirs along
with their estates and stick to them. They
are always on one side. When the conser-
vative party is in power they take things
easy and pass every measure that is sent
up to them. When the ship of state Is
manned by a liberal crew they wake up
bit and do their best to wreck 1t by veto
Ing nearly every important measure that
comes before them.
If there is one thing more than another
with which they have no business to con-
Germ themselves it is the election of men,
bers of the house of commons. That one
man should have one vote only is a bed
rock principle of democracy. AS the fran
chise is exercised in England he may have
a dozen votes II he has residences enough.
At the last session the house of commons.
by a big majority, passed a bill knocking
out plural voting and restricting the suf-
fragist to one vote. no matter how many
residences he might claim. The lords con-
temptuously rejected 1t. because most plural
voters cast their ballots for conservatives.
1t Is this sort OF thing which caused Lord
Crewe to complain that the liberals always
found themselves up against game in
which marked cards and loaded dice were
used against them.
Proud Trappings and Poor Faces.
That the peers regard themselves
superior order of creation finds expression
in the more grandiose chamber COM
pared with that in which the commons
meet, The upper house is an arrangement
t.. L..II 4
study in dark green. that being the pre-
vailing hue of the upholstery. The contrast
serves to emphasize the idea that one cham
Der represents the proletariat; the other a
rich, proud and powerful aristocracy. That
in which the lords gather to exercise their
legislative functions is far finer. more i'm
pressve and picturesque than that in which
the elected representatives hold their sit
tings. The house of commons ends in the
speakers chair. a comparatively simple
affair save that 1t is suggestive of any
thing but comfort. The house of lords
ends in throne-a thing of gilt and splen
dor and large proportions-frOm which the
sovereign opens parliament, and behind the
throne there is vast wall on which are
splendid frescoes in gigantic figures and in
rich and almost dazzling colors.
But the peers themselves don't come up
to their gorgeous surroundings. Their robes
ana cOFOnetS tneN wear OGtS on STATE &C
casions. Attired in the conventional raj
ment of masculine responsibility they are
a very ordinary looking lot 1t is a fact
that they don't show up anything like
well as the members of the United States
Senate. What writer's of fiction for servant
girl consumption delight in calling arts
tocratic features are conspicuous by their
absence. When l first saw them engaged
in Strengthening liberal legislation l could
not help wondering how many of them
would be able to earn their own iivings if
turned loose. The cure for admiring the
house of lords. said an acute French
critic of English Institutions. lis to go and
look at it at work.
AS puissant legislators they are a law
unto themselves. They have no rules and
regulations such found necessary for
the conduct of business in the commons.
The lord chancellor acts as their speaker
and gets $4,000 year for it Che gets an
other 100000 as judge, but he is a speaker
In name only. He has power to call
peer to order. If two three noble lords
rise at the same time he may not even de-
eide which of them is entieled to the floor
The one who succeeds in Cabling out my
lords first gets it. They do not address
the speaker. His presence is ignored in
their speeches. All he has to do to earn
his big salary IN to sit tight on the wool
sack as his scarlet seat Is called, wear
huge horsehair wig that falls down over
his shoulders and long and gorgeous robe
which an attendant prevents from getting