The Irish standard., 1909-10-02
THE LORDS AND THE BUDGET

winch is shaking Great Britain to Its
really means. The word
budget" sounds oddly to American
ears. but in the British Islands it is a
term. Webster defines it es
the annual financial statement which
the British. chancellor of the exchequer
makes in the House of Commons. 1t
comprehends a general view of the
finances of the country, with the pro-
posed plan Of taxation for the ensuing
year.
Mr.. Lloyd George is the present
chancellor of the exchequer in the
Liberal ministry. He is Welshman.
Upon him devolves the charge of the
public. income and expenditure as the
highest finance minister of the gov
eminent, and he appears to be equal
to the emergency. At this time Eng
land is afraid of Germany. The latter
is building a huge navy, which b3
1912 will be larger than that Of Eng
land. For hundreds of years England
has been mistress of the ocean, and
she wants to. retain her supremacy.
To maintain. her superiority on water
she must have the largest navy in the
world-equal to that of two great ma
tons combined. 1t costs money Ia
build such q navy, and the British
people must pay higher taxes than
How is the taxation to be
levied is the problem that Lloyd George
is striving to sselye. He has arrived at
the conclusion, after mature consid-
Grafton. that the possessors of, prop
erty and not the peasantry and wage
earners, should foot the bill for the
building of, ugreat navy for national
protection and supremacy on the briny
deep. rs.a
The landed Interests are opposed to
his schemsc. Though sslf1sh motives.
The feudal ,lo4dss who acquired the
lands by :confiscation in the days gone
by, when might meant right, are up in
arms against Lloyd Georges budget.
The doughty Welshman wants the idle
aristocrats, and not the productive
classes to pay for the privileges they
enjoy, and he ~ determined they should
do SO even if # brings on a revolu-
ton. The world is looking on, watch
ing the outcome Of the contest be-
tween aristocracy and democracy in
the British Islands. The budget is
still pending in the House of Com
mons and win soon pass in the face
of Tory opposition to the upper house
where the peers may veto it.
There are about 500 peers scattered
over the United Kingdom, but seldom
or never are there more than so OF
them assembled in their chamber.
When the Gladstone Home Rule bill
for Ireland passed the lower house OF
parliament, some twenty years ago, the
peers met to the. number Of 400 to re-
ject 1T, The majority of them had
never entered the upper house before
nor have they since. but this time they
are likely to appear in full force. What
they will do remains to be seem The
Liberals are ready for them. Winston
Churchill, a member of the cabinet
and son of the late Lord Randolph
Churchill in an aggregate meeting at
Manchester, used the following
language: :
Il say to you that we do not seek
the struggle. But if it is to come 1t
could never come better than now.
cloud cheers) Never again perhaps
not for many years in any case. will
such an opportunity be presented to
the British democracy. Never will the
ground be more favorable. Never will
the issues be more clearly or more
vividly defined. (Cheers) Those issues
will be whether taxation which is adj
mitted on all sides to be necessary
shall be imposed upon luxuries. super
fluities. and monopolies. or upon the
prime necesaries of life: whether you
shall put your tax: upon the unearned
increment in land or upon the daily
bread of labor; whether the policy Of
constructive social reform on which
we are embarked and which expands
and -deepens as we advance, shall be
carried through and given a fair
chance, or whethersit shall be brought
to dead stop, and all the energies
and attention of the state devoted to
lingo ornaments and senseless foreign
adventure. And lastly, the issue win
be whether the British people in the
year Of grace 1909 are going to be
ruled through representative as.
sembly elected by six or seven mill
l1opo IF voters and about which evsrr-