Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-13
OFFERS UNIQUE PLAN
House of Lords Would Elect
Its Own Members.
REJECTED BY LIBERALS
Speculation Over Archduke Francis
Ferdinand.
ENIGMA TO THE POWERS
Talk of Ambassador Cambon's Re
tirement on Account of Ill Health.
Duke of Westminster ILL.,
ENIGMA TO THE POWEE
Special Correspondence of The Star.


the authority Of themselves that the lords
| need reforming. AS political document
and assistance from the present difficult
| ties of the situation. which allow the
higher house to nullify the labors of
commons, the scheme is laughed at and
rejected by liberals generally. In fact,
| the plan is notable for it's cool assump-
ton of the right to make a settlement
wholly in favor of the conservative party.
While providing for the election of lords
| of parliament" as they would be known,
instead of permitting any Tom. Dick or
Harry who succeeds to peerage to take
his seat as hereditary legislator, the
/ plan insists on the election of representa-
tive peers by peers.
| AS there are nearly 600 conservative
peers to about 100 liberals. it Will be seen
that the political situation would remain
| unchanged, if indeed any liberal peers al
| AL managed to squeeze into the 's1lded
chamber The hereditary principle would
still be left with deciding voice In the
| deliberations of commons.
The authors of this proposed reform
are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
| Duke Of Norfolk. the late Duke of Devon
! shire Lord Onslow, Lord Curzon and
Lord Lansdowne. and, briefly, the report
| recommends the election of 200 Lords OF
| parliament by the hereditary peers; the
spiritual peers to be reduced from twenty
four to twenty. including the two arch
| bishops, the crown to summon annually
four peers for life. the whole number
not to exceed forty; Canada, Australia
| New Zealand and South Africa to be
represented by nominees of the govern
| nents of those colonies. and about 40
who are qualified ny high position or
previous service to sit in the lords
Proposed House of Lords.
So that under the suggested reforms the
house would probably consist Of the fol-
lowing:
| Peers of blood royal NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. .
| Representative hereditary peers. 2oo
| Qualified hereditary peers lou
Spiritual lords. Observation-Disclosures. ~
| Lords of appeal. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. .
| Peers for life. ~
| Total. Observation-Disclosures. .'SS
| Those who are deemed qualified TO De
peers in the report are those VINO nave
| been cabinet minister v1ceroy OF lndla,
| governor general of Australia, high com
missioner for South Africa, lord leu
| tenant Of Ireland. permanent head OF any
| department. lieutenant governor, poiltl-
| cal resident and ambassador of four
years standing, speaker of the house o!
commons, one who has held high judicial
! office, the lord great chamberlain. carr
marshal chairman of committees and po-
| litical secretary or under secretary IN any
government department. The most IN
| teresting part Of the proposal is the rec
| IGNITION of the principle of allowing rep
resentation from the colonies In Imperial
parliament.
| There Is much speculation throughout
| Europe at present as to the character and
disposition of the Archduke Francis Fer
dnand of Austria who, owing to the
great age and intirmty of Francis Joseph,
| may be called upon very soon to assume
the scepter of Austria-Hungary.. He is at
| present an enigma to the powers, though
he Is regarded as the evil genius or the
| Balkan situation. He is under clerical
domination and takes the German emf
peror as his model in most things he
! finds in Baron Aerenthal a pliahle minister
who accepts inspiration from the heir TO
| the throne The political outlook of Eu-
| rope would be clearer if the statesmen III
| the various capitals knew more concerning
| the heir and had some data on which
to base their speculations regarding the
| policy he is likely to inaugurate
| Francis Ferdinand's Life.
Francis Ferdinand has always led
quiet life. An illness which overlook him
shortly after the tragic death of Grown
Prince Rudolf compelled him to live
quietly for several years 1t was a malady
of such gravity that it was regarded for
time as eliminating him from all con-
sideration in connection with the sue
| eral expectation he recovered and his
convaleScence was signaliZed by re-
| nance, in which Countess Sophie Chotek.
daughter of a former Austrian minister
| plenipotentiary at Dresden, and one time
| lady in waiting to ArchducheSs Frederick,
was the heroine. Francis Ferdinand in
sisted upon making the countess his wife.
| The Emperor Francis Joseph ultimately
gave his consent to the match upon the
archduke registering a solemn oath on
| the Gospels and in writing in the presence
| of the princes of his house and of the
| great dignitaries of the realm whereby lie
| pledged himself that op becoming en-
| peror he would never take advantage
thereof to raise his morganatic wife to
| share his throne or would seek to endow
any sons born of the union with rights
| to the crown. Moreover he renounced-in
the name of his unborn children all pre-
tensions to imperial rank and to the
| SceDter.
| The difficulties which he had encoun
| tered in marrying the countess and the
| anomalous position assigned to her as his
mOrganatic wife contributed to keep the
| archduke in the background during the
first few years of his welded existence.
| OF late, however the countess. who has
| been created Princess of Hohenberg by
the emperor. has taken her place at court
among the members of the reignlng fam
| lily. There are three children by the mar
riage-twO boys and girl-who bear
their mothers princely name of Hohen-
berg. 1t is Archduke Otto's eldest son,
OF succession to his uncle, Francis Fer
dinand. The lad. who recently attained
his majority, has been brought up alto
gether under the influence and direction
of the Emperor Francis Joseph and is
justly regarded one of the most prom
Using princes of the historic dynasty of
Hapsburg. Will Francis Josephs sue
cessors continue his policy? That is the
question. If not, then the storm must
burst. With a population composed of
Germans, CZechs, Serbs, Ruthenians
Slovenes, Poles, Magyars Italians. Rou-
manianS, Jews and others it is surprising
that the Austrian empire has remained to-
gether SO long. The magic bond which
holds them all together at present is the
personal influence of the Emperor Francis
Joseph. Today he stands the one link
between a mighty empire and chaos.
Cambon May Retire Soon.
| hear that the health of the French
ambassador. M. Cambon, is so Indifferent
| that there is some talk of his early re-
| tirement. He is great favorite here and
| his retirement would be a great social
and diplomatic loss. He came to London
| at a very critical time. just after the