The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-11
HOME RULE IS
 PLEDGED IRISH Premier Asquith Promises
 Colleagues Aid
MONSTER MEETING IN LONDON
Balfour's Manifesto Is Said to Dis
 appoint Conservatives.
PoIitians, However. are not 70 very. sansuine. And Seem willing te Await developments Before they Rush Forward with
 Their Comments.

London. Dec 1o.--,At a monster meet | ing tonight in Albert Hall. Herbert l Henry Asquith. the British prime min- I fster,s laid down the policy on which the liberal government is appealing l to the country. He repeated what had l been said by other ministers--that if lreturned to power the government l would demand the limitation of the power of the house of lords--and then went q step further and pledged that | the iiberal party would grant self | government to Ireland.
 | The audience was composed entirely of men. women having been denied
 admission in the fear that there might be demonstrations by sun i ragettes. Every corner of the hall had been searched during the day for wo- men and e small band of them was
 routed out, but they managed to get | two male supporters Into the meeting | who interrupted Mir. Asquith momen- l tari1y with cries of votes for women" They were promptly elected
 l Mr. Asqufth was not alone in giving fog the people their first real touch of | the campaign. for Arthur ]. Baifour, leader of the opposition in the house Of commons, made a simultaneous plea to Ethem in, a quiet. dignffied election man
 ifesto addressed. to the electors of the l city of London who have chosen him as their candidate.
 "I tell you In the name and on be-
 half of the liberal party" Mir. Asauith said, i've have at this moment laid upon us e single task which dominates l and transcends because 1t embraces and Involves every great and benefi- cient social and political change upon I which our hearts are set. That task ,, is to vindicate and establish upon an
 unshakable foundation the principles of representative government"
 After referring to the action of the | house of lords, the matter of Welsh l Religous Equality and the certain of I certain Scottish land bills. NIT. AsGuith I turned his attention to Ireland. which I he said. had been Fortunate for once because the measures sent up in her behalf did not come violently athwart the preJudices of the house of lords | ,s1 4s. kxfah H~Me hufe.
 r .speaking last year before my ac- tcession to the premiership" Mfr. As- auith continued, T decried the Irish policy as the one unfavorabie feature of British statesmanshtp. l repeat to- l night what said then. and on behalf of my colleagues. and, I believe. on | behalf of my party, reiterate that this Ills problem to be solved. only in one bay--by a policy which. while explicit liy safeguarding the supreme, invisible 1 Authority of the Parliament. can set up | in Ireland system of full self-govern- ment as regards purely Irish affairs. There Is not, and cannot be. any Ques- tfon of rivalry or competing Tor su- prenlacy subject to these conditions. | That is the liberal policy. For reasons for which we believe to have been ade- uuate, the present Parliament vas dis-
 abied in advance from proposing any such solution, but in the new devel-
 onments. the Liberal government, at the head of q Liberal majority, will | be in this matter, entirely free. | MT. Asuuith defended the budget as necessary to social reform, and in this | respect old age pensions were the nrst step. he said.
 The Government. he said. was con- fronted with three constitutional inno- | vations; the first claims of the House | of Lords to control In levying taxa l lion. second, the claim of the same | house to the right to compel dissoiu- | lion of the popular chamber; and. I third. the assertion of the House of | Lords of their power to make and un- make the executive government or the | crown.
 | what has been done." declared Mir. l Asduith, may be done again. IL be- comes our first duty to make It's recur- | renee impossible. We shall. tnereiore,
 demand authority from the electorate | to translate m ancient, unwritten usage
 into an act of Parliament. and to place | unon Tthe statute books recognition, 1 explicit and complete. of the settled | doctrine of our constitution; that fs | bevond the province of the House or
 Lords to meddle with any law. to any
 degree. or for any purpose of nauonal ! finance"
 Manifesto DisappOintinE.
 MT. Balfour's manifesto will be dis | appointing to an enormous section or his political followers inasmuch as it briefly dismisses tariff reform as the l first plank" in the unionist program | Mir. Balfour makes no attempt 10 de-. | fine tariff reform, but concentrates his attack on accusation that the liberal I Government is. engaging in a conspir- | acy to destroy the constitution by sup stituting a single chamber govern ment like that of Greece.
 The manifesto reviews the history of the crisis and declares that the 1 governments claim is that the House of Commons should be the uncon- l trolled master of every class and l without appeal to the country, even in most extreme cases He cites the l United States. where the fundamental ' principle Of the leSiSiaIVH ID t'at \ every class of property should be I taxed alike and says no such measure
 as the British budget could be adopt ed there without a two-thirds majerf- ty of both houses, or become law with out A national mandate from the stiiA stronger majority of the country. l while even If the House of Represen- tatives imposed special taxation 1t could be rejected by the Senate or vetoed by the PresiJent
 l After a brief criticism of the budget | inc manifesto refers at length to the problem of unemployment as the one extreme difficulty which 1t Is lmpos-
 sible to remedy by the government proposals. u then proceeds to state that Mir Baifour anticipates great re-
 suits from tariff reform,
 Tt seems to me-" Mir. Balfour de- clares. "altruism that tariff reform
 win stimulate home industries. Only by tariff reform can you hope to re- tain colonial preference to modify I commerciaI treaties In your favor and secure home product from unfair com petition in the home market. It will do no Injury in neutral markets and
 may give valuable aid in protected IA 4.ra