New-York tribune., 1909-10-24
London. October <.

- e-rDase that conHlcl peIWeen the
.,.,ss Of Lords and the Sc OF Com
.,s on the Budget is imminent: and
a. frederic Harrison announces, in his
-,st positive and pontfcal manner.
- should the Lords venture upon
- q contest. not the prerogatives Of
.ss Tpper House only but everything
-os- sacred in the Constitution viii be
e~-r into the melting pot ! should be
..snosed 10 say that for Mr.. Frederic
r,.--ison to predict a thing is a guar
.,.ee against its coming TO pass He
tss spcnt his life in successful attempts
:, Re on the wrong side: not in public
,zsirs only. His faith in his own pro-
,tstic gifts remains mistaken. His re-
,.s-ksble power Of rhetoric T1isieads
t;-, ss ii misleads others. He is learned
~ the law. and his law misleads him.
us has written much on social ques-
sons On some of them he has even
,1ought- on all OF them his counseIs
s-s the. counsels Of revolution.
Mathew Arnold drew a sketch of MI
Frederic Harrison as addressing the
british public with vehemence. "perched
r- The back Of q grotesQue old French
pe5ant" Never was any philosophy so
vel named as Comics Positive Phil
osoDhy- with Mt. Frederic Harrison as
sr1ounder o. the same He is. in truth.
E Popo. Infauble. and infallibly certain
nat he is .nfauible. Every now and
srain ne addresses 10 his followers
through The Times" an encyclical, on
matters q faith and practice. An organ
Of less circulation would suffice. This
present manifesto i one OF warning and
nsnsce 10 the House Of Lords.
But whether M Frederic Harrison be
rght or wrong. the Lords and the lead
rs Of the Lords stand to-day in a blaze
o. light. all eyes fixed on them. The
Radicsl eyes are fixed on them most
sierrly Of all # you listen TO Mr.. Lloyd
George and Ny Winston Churchill. the
Lords lrs . body Of tyrants bent on
destroying the liberties of the land.
Well ryranr for tyrant I think I had
rather bow beneath the yoke of Lord
Laus50wne than Of Nj Lloyd-George
q Lord CurzOn or the Duke Of Devon
shire than Of Mr.. Winston Churchill.
b that IS It may, the half dozen men
whose considered opinion the Lords are
likely to follow are very interesting fig
Tres. and their leader. so called. is not
only interesting but pathetic
The leader Of the Upper House is Lord
Lansdowne. There Is a sense-perhaps
thsre are two senses-in which he is not
leader. for the Peers own no leader
and no authority but that Of the whole
House. and not always that This priv
..eeed body IS the most democratic body
in the world. one member Of it is as
good as another The Speaker of the
House Of Commons rules with a rod Of
-gu sometimes heated red hot, ana
raen a strong man ike the present
SPEAKER AIr. Lowther, is in the Chair.
e word IS Law. from which there might
but never IS, an appeal.
he Speaker OF the House Of Lords, VINO
Lord Chancellor. has no authority
TAsrever. He cannot call a member TO
-1er. he cannot say who shall speak
and VINO shall not. He cannot direct the
curse Of q debate. He cannot prevent any
license OF discussion in which the House
nay choose 20 indulge He is paid
5000 year for letting his fellow
Peers Go as they Ike. the other So, 900
c5ulng 10 him as Lord Chancellor. He
las, If possible. less power than the
President Of The United States Senate,
and the 6ecorum which 5 in the
House OF Lords is spontaneous. You do
T--r X ~gagv
;ssJ e. once, nor page boys racing up
sad down the floor. nor anybody with
his feet on the desk, for there are no
a5sks. The authority Of Lord Loreburn
-1ss not extend 10 matters OF deport-
nsnt, nor does Lord Lansdowne act as
Iodoemaa The simple reason is that
there Is no occasion for the services Of
ether IN either Of those capacities.
By temperament, Lord Lansdowne is
11t leader for any purpose. Neither
S he by birth, since this is, or was,
House q Tories, and Lord Lansdowne
vas born z Wing; the best way TO be
1o-1, bur not the way which would lead
naturally 10 the highest seat in a legis-
5lye body where the natural enemies
@ me Wings have long had a majority
q Ten 70 one. Lord Lansdowne is where
ae is By force Of circumstances, and Of
-2srscter. He succeeds another Whig.
Ge late Duke Of Devonshire. who,
lolgh be never assumed a hing like
-ortrol over the House, had q weight
the House which. after Lord Sails
'1rys death, no other Peer possessed.
suppose no man IN our time guided
lie House OF Lords with so steady a
-sno as Lord Salisbury. Not Lord Bea-
alsheld. because Lord Beaconsfeld en-
ered the House late, as refuge from
as storms and turbulence Of the House
q Commons. 10 which his strength was
10 longer equal Indeed, Mr. Disraeh
vas tired man when he first grasped
Supreme power. IN 1i74, as Prime Minis
'sf' having been before that Prime Min
NleF On suferance only.
But Lord Salisbury, from 1868
.hen he succeeded TO his peerage, 10
~ when he died, had been an
sFer-ztrengthening force in that cham
he had about all a man could
AVE 10 make him supreme in such an
esssho!y. Long descent, high rank,
eei'h. an Intellectual ascendancy for
'~e most part unrivaIled, character and
0eFeer alike stainless. devotion TO pub
o1ty and Z power Of YORK 10 which
~-7te vas almost no limit He was an
HrHH~a