New-York tribune., 1910-02-06
CHECKS ON PEERS.
Scheme 4dUanced by Umonfsts
to Reduce House.
q -. Assocfated PCS. J

is the course which the government 40
likely 20 pursue on the reassenloiihs VI
Parliament. Thus far on this. as on eli
other matters the Prime hifisIer' MI.
Asquith. has kept his own counsel anu
the views of the Liberals vary accoroi"s
TO their shade Of rsdicalisn1
Extreme members of the party. like the
Laborites, and even some OF the more
moderate men. strongly favor an tr1rnedi-
ATE attack on the veto power of the House
of Lords. leaving the budget and all other
Hesitation until the party has settled its
account with the peers. VINO are held re-
snonsible for all the political troubles
which have arisen. The Irish members,
too. are believed 10 support this view, al
though John Redmond, leader of the Ma
tienaIists who since his election has been
In retirement At his country home in Ire
land has not vet made any announcement
of his intentions.
The more moderate Liberals, seeing the
possibility Of the disorganization OF the
finances Of the country by this course or
action. are urging the government hrst 70
introduce the budget. which the Lords,
accepting the result OF the election as an
Endorsement o. the governments financial
policy, are already pledged TO pass.
REFORM OF THE LORDS.
on the question Of the future status OF
the House Of Lords, opinions differ almost
as widely The Lahorites and Extremist
Radicals are for the absolute abolition OF
the upper chamber which hardly comes
within The scheme of practical pohtlcs.
Another section Of the AIinisterialists de
Ilands tbs abolition OF the Lords Tlghs OF
veto on financial legislation and the cur
tailrrent Of their veto in other legislation
So that in the words Of the reSoIunpn
passed by the House Of Commons when
the budget was held Up by the House OF
Lords: The viii OF the people. as eN-
pressed by the House of Commons, must
be adopted by the House OF Lords within
the limits Of a single Parliament
In other words, this means that any
naeasu passed by three successive ses-
sicns Of the House OF Commons must be
adopted by the Lords. The views OF the
Moderates are expressed by Sir Edward
Grey, the Foreign Secretary, who said:
NO reform % the IEouse t& Lords can
he & real reform unless II provides Tor the
abolition Of the hereditary principle and
the substitution OF pcrular election.
The Spectator'' follows up this with the
suggestion that the upper house bs mod
eIied after the American Senate, the house
TO consist Of 200 members, chosen under
system Of proportional representation from
equal electoral areas.
In the mean time. the Unionists. with
the exeeption Of q few peers X no under
no circumstances would ind place II the
reformed chamber, are practically unan1-
nous for a change IN the constitution OF ths
House Of Lords. Many schemes are being
put forward, the most popular probably
beng that embodied in the report OF the
Rosebery committee, which provides for
the election by the hereditary peers OF 209
Of their own number, together with 80
peers qualified by service 10 the nation. 10
bishops, judges and 20 life peers
COLONIAL SENATE PROPOSED
The inperiaIists among the Cnionists
look with considerable favor On the sug
ges-ion made by Horton Grif1ths, new
member. who has had great experience in
the colonies and elsewhere He has pro
posed. when the moment IS opportune, 70
establish z Senate Of the Empire. 10 in
clude representatives from the colonies.
Premier Asauith can count on q majority
for the cuTtailrnent Of the House Of Lords
veto, for On this the Nationalists, and
doubtless the Independent Nationalists 100.
will be with the government. On the bud
get however the attitude of the National
ISIS is still uncertain. Mr.. Redmond has
not committed himself beyond giving out
his cable correspondence with II. J. Ryan.
national president Of the United Irish
League Of America. but many members OF
the party strongly oppose the clauses I'M
posing Whiskey duties, and. Il they do not
vote against them, would in their own
political interest, have TO abstain from
voting. Several Liberals are in the same
~ T,-l1 &c :y7r~1
duced they will obtain permission from the
whips 10 absent themselves.
William O'Brien. who heads the Inde-
pendent Irish members has made his in
tended attitude quite clear in a letter, in
which he says: There is no doubt that
the Irish party contenplates the biackest
treason perpetrated against the Irish since
the Act Of Union. The Nationalists propose
TO assist the government in passing the bud
get, which will impose on ireland 600
il taxation per annum.
The coming week will see q clearing OF
the atmosphere. Premier Asquith and
Chancellor Lloyd-George, who have been
resting on the Continent, and the other
members Of the Cabinet, who went to the
country after the campaign, are now on
their way back 10 London. The first formal
meeting Of the ministry will take place
on February 10, and the changes IN the
Cabinet the wording OF the Kings speech
for the opening OF Parliament and the
course Of business for the Commons will
then be decided. The King will be absent
from London at that time. the plan being
that he shall spend week at the Brighton
course, in order to prevent the suggestion
that he is taking any side in the contro-
versy- AT the same time, his majesty will
be near al hand when the Premier desires
10 acquaint him with the decisions Of the
government.
T. P. O'Connor. in an article IN 'Rey-
nolds Newspaper" expresses the opinion
that the question whether the King viii as
sist Premier Asquith to curtan the veto of
the House Of Lords by the creation OF peers
has already been fully discussed between
the King and the Prime Minister and that
there is fairly clear understanding on
the subject. Mr.. O'Connor takes a most