The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-12-03
PEERSWARNEDOF
DANGER
RosEBERRY'S SPEECH IN HOUSE
OF LORDS CREATES A
SENSATION
Rejection Of Budget Threatens Exist
ence of House of Lords-Advocates
Passage of Measure, Believing Six
Months Trial Will Make Country
Sick of It.

l
! Sick Of It.
| London, Nov. 27.-Lord Roseberry,
former liberal prime minister, has
raised the historic struggle between
the lords and the house of commons to
a new plane by one of the finest
speeches he ever has delivered. He
warned the lords of the grave risks
they were running if they adopted the
Lord Lansdowne resolution to reject
the budget. He said:
| Il am quite disassOciated from any
party and speak from my sense of the
awful gravity of the situation. This is
the greatest political moment in the
lifetime of any man born since 1882"
| Right to Reject Finance Bill.
Lord Roseberry admitted that, by
the letter of the law, the house of lords
was competent to reject finance bills,
but since the reform of 1882 it was not
possible that the commons should send
up budget which the house of lords
should go to the length of rejecting.
| He considered that the only possible
circumstances jus tifying the lords in
exercising such dormant power
would be the direct authority of the
nation itself. Such a circumstance
might arise if budget were presented
| which lowered the defenses of the
country to a point which the nation
considered dangerous.
He doubted whether the lords were
choosing the best battlefield. They
/ were playing for too heavy stake and
were risking the very existence of the
house of lords.
| A winning policy, continued the
speaker, would be to allow the budget
bill to pass and give the country six
months experience of it's intolerable
impositions, loss of capital and en-
ployment. They would then achieve,
when they next approached the polls,
victory that would surprise themselves.
He looked with much apprehension to
the result of an appeal to the country
mixed up with such other issues as
would be raised.
| Thrives on Menaces.
81 do not speak of menaces," he
said. "The house of lords has lived
on menaces ever since I can remem-
Der, and it is still thriving. But the
menaces now used are used by men
bent on having single chamber Their
efforts are revolutionary in essence,
if not in fact
| Dealing with the question of the re-
form of the house of lords, which Lord
Roseberry has long advocated, he ex-
pressed the conviction that no final
adjustment of the differences between
the two houses could ever. be arrived
at without some form of referendum.
He denounced the budget in the
strongest terms and said that one max
i'm burned into them by bitter expert
ence was that there should be no taxa
ton without representation.
| Disregard for that MAXIM" he said,
"lost us the United States of America
and we are not likely to offend against
it again.
Lord Roseberry contended that the
budget taxed the lords freely and
abundantly without their having a
word to say or to vote in the matter
After referring to the budget as .hav-
ing spread over the country want of
confidence and want of credit, the
worst diseases which could affect COM
mercial nations, he uttered a solemn
| uo hot ha of
ornaments was hurrying Europe to-
ward bankruptcy
Causes Sensation.
Expressing regret that he could not
support the resolution, Lord Roseberry
res umed his seat, having spoken for SO
minutes. His picturesque and glowing
eloquence produced a tremendous eff
feet, leaving his hearers somewhat be-
wildered.
There was an immediate exodus of
peers to discuss the situation in the
lobbies and, although the debate con-
tinued until midnight, the rest of the
speeches took rather the form of an
anti-climax. Lord Miner spoke of the
abnormal manner in which the budget
was driving capital out of the country
He declared that all proposed new
taxes were bad and unnecessary. All
the money required, he contended
might have been raised by import du-
ties, not only without injury to bust
ness and employment, but with actual
benefit to both.