Daily Kennebec journal., 1910-11-19
HOUSE Of LORDS FATE
HANGING IN BALANCE.
Hereditary Principle as Basis Is Doom
ed, with Elective and SeIective
Plans to Follow conservatives
Upset Over Coming Elections.

| London, Nov. 1S.-Today's brief ses-
| sions of the two houses of Parliament
are likely to prove to be the turning
| point in the history of the House of
| Lords as at present constituted. The
| older Conservatives view the march of
| events with anxious concern and are
loudly lamenting the disappearance OF
the hereditary principle as the basis
! of the upper chamber; but whatever
may result a second appeal to the ma
ton arising from the struggle between
| the two houses seems certain and that
| henceforth elective and selective bases
| will enter into the constitution of the
| House of Lords
Interest in the situat ton has now
| been transferred to the constituencies.
| The belief tonight is that the House
| of Lords will not attempt to pass the
second reading of the veto bill on the
| conditions imposed by Premier AS
| quith MIR. Asquith will open the Lib
eral campaign with a speech at the
National Liberal Club tomorrow and it
| is expected to develop the governments
| policy at length. All the other leaders
are booked for speeches in quick sue
cession.
Much criticism and complaint is
| heard on the Conservative side that
| the government has precipitatcd cleo
| tions at an inconvenient time. Both
sides, however, profess the utmost con-
| fidence in the outcome of an appeal to
| the country.
London, Nov. 1S-It is the intention
of the government to pass the essen
| tial features of the budget, namely the
income tax, tea duty and sinking fund
| provisions: remove the pauper disdual-
| itication for old age pensions and to
| dissolve Parliament on Nov. -. Should
| the Lords in the meantime reject the
veto bill.
Presenting this program in the HOUSE
| of Commons today, Premier Asqulth
said that he had hoped up to the last
moment that the veto conference
would reach settlement. There never
| had been a more honest or more sus-
| tanned attempt by men of strong ans
! conflicting convictions to find q basis
! of argument upon which to build
| structure promising stability and en-
| durance.
In view of the failure of the con-
| ference Mr.. Asquith said that it would
be useless to attempt to hammer out
an agreement in the present Parlia-
| ment to the accompaniment of the din
! of party collision. The result is that
we revert to a state of war; declared
| the premier, who continued:
",The Lords will be given an oppor-
Of n
government veto bill in the coming
week. There is no question of amend
ment or transformation. 1t is a ques
! ton of acceptance or rejection. The
time has come for this controversy
which obstructs the whole path of
progressive legislation, to be sent for
| final decisive arbitrament to the ma
| tional tribunal
Arthur j. Balfour leader of the Op
| position in the House OF Commons.
| who made the Unionist keynote speech
| at Nottingham last night, today at
| tackled the government program as an
nouEced by the premier Speaking in
| the House of Commons he described
| the government method of procedure
| as unprecedented and unconstitution-
| al. The ministry. he said, had made up
| their minds that all chance of the
| Lords making moderate and reasona-
| bic proposals for the settlement of the
| question at issue between the two
| houses must be avoided at all hazards
| and SO was rushing through to dis
| solution of Parliament before it would
| be possible for the moderates on both
| sides to form judgment
George N. Barnes, a Labor leader.
voiced the revolt of the LaboriteS
! against the government who, he declar
| ed, had failed to meet the demand for
| immediate legislation to reverse the Os
| borne judgment. The Laborites. he said,
| We're altogether dissatisfied with the pre-
| mier's suggestion for the payment of
members of the lower House as pallia-
| tive for the wrongs sustained by the
trades unions through the Osborne judg-
| ment. The Labor party, Barnes added,
believed that the governments conduct
of the business of the House and coun-
try had not been such as to Justify the
ministry a free hand and the Labor
members would abstain from voting if a
vote was taken.
Mr. Asquth denied the assertion of the
ooISerFatFeS- thdt tne government was
acting under pressure. saying that he
understood that the charge was that
pressure was being applied by the sinis-
ter hand of the Black Angel of this po-
ltical drama. Mr. Redmond.
Mr. Asquith then detailed the legisla-
ton that the government proposed to
pass before the dissolution of Parliament
and said that it would be necessary to
appropriate $25Oo,ooo to carry out the pro-
visions of the act removing the pauper
disqualification from old age pensioners.
He concluded by promising that if the
government obtained the requisite parlia-
| mentary majority he would next year
bring in bill to provide for the pay
ment of members of the House of Com
mons.
Pressed for statement IN the subject