Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-22
An Epoch Marking Campaign
Bv Frederic j. Haskin

& mentary election now in
III Egg progress in England is in
l& Eyzl many respects the most i'm
ia PHl portant political campaign
lksz1rESl since the ballot box was in
vented. The peculiar issues
involved are such that whatever the
result of the voting, the constitution
of the British empire will be radically
changed. Usually it is impossible to
weigh the Importance of political
| campaign in advance, but from the
first it has been known here that a
! Liberal victory would mean the reduc-
| tiOn of the power of the house of lords
to the extent that it might not veto
or amend bills affecting revenues, and
that a Conservative victory would
mean that the power of the house of
lords would be augmented and that of
the house of commons reduced to a
point approXmatng the condition Of
affairs before the revolution under
Oliver Cromwell.
Here England decides whether it
win adopt the newest notions of po-
litiCal reform and advance toward So
cialism, or whether 1t viii return to
a more pronouncedly individuallstic
system. The campaign was the most
exciting that England has ever known
far more fast and furious" than any
campaign the United States ever has
known. The most important reason
for the unprecedented interest in this
particular campaign is the fact that
there was real, living, burning issue
At the beginning of the campaign this
issue of the people against the peers
was clear-cut, and 1t was sufficient to
get the country thoroughly awake.
Then other questions were injected,
until a tho flpgp fhR gnpulxnpE
compelled TO discuss many side issues,
each Of overwhelming importance.
seldom has soi much been crowded
into one campaign, never has so much
depended on the result of an election.
TO begin at the beginning: The Lib
eral party came into power in 1906 by
an overwhelming majority. 1t at
tempted to leglslate along progress
i've" lines, but its great majority in
the house of commons was of no ac-
count when the house of lords could
veto or emasculate every measure. The
house of lords is always overwhelm-
ingly Conservative. The first prime
minister, Sir H. Campbell -Bannerman,
died, and was succeeded by Herbert
H. Asquith, the present premier.
David Lloyd-George became chancel-
lor of the eXchequer, a position which
amounts, If transferred to the United
States, to a combination of all the
power held by the secretary of the
treasury, Speaker Cannon, Senator AL
drich and Chairman Tawney OF the
house committee on appropriations.
Each year the chancellor of the eX-
chequer makes up the budget, a bill
providing for the collection and eN-
penditure of all the revenues of the
country This budget goes into effect
as law ON the day it is introduced in
the house of commons. 1t is just as if
Secretary MacVeagh had the power to
draw up bill fixing all taxation, in
Guiding the tariff, and making all ap-
preparations, including fixed charges
upon future administrations, and that
such a bill would become law at the
moment it was transmitted to con-
gress. However, the budget, although
already in effect, must be passed by
parliament and approved by the king.
The kings approval is purely perfume
tory, as the crown has not exercised
the right of veto since the days Of
Queen Anne
The budget introduced on April 29,
1909, is the cause of all the trouble.
1t provided for the revolutionary
process of taxing land values. After
i'ibNil Sunny b'DtllC IL was pclGSCu W
the house of commons by a hugs ma
jority and sent to the house of lords.
That body. on Nevomber 80, 1909, re-
jected and vetoed the budget, in eff
feet, by adopting an amendment to it
declaring THAT this house is not JUS
titled in giving its consent to this bill
until it has been submitted to the
judgment of the country" This action
was taken by a vote of $50 to 70.
Whereupon the campaign was on.
Some understanding of the nature of
the British constitution, and of the
sharp practice by politicians of both
Liberal and Conservative parties. is
necessary to explain this crisis The
British constitution is not a written
document like that of the United
States, but is the collection of govern
mental precedents from early times un-
til the present. Since the re-establish-
ment of English affairs after the Crom-
well revolution the house of lords, un-
Ger the accepted constitution, has had
no right to reject or materially to
amend revenue bills. The budget has
been exclusively the work of the house
of commons, and the assent of the lords
has been given just as the perfunctory
approval of the king is required.
The Liberal government was unable
to pass it's proposed progressive" legis-
l., +;oy, l., eaDarat ia hills SO the whole So