The Irish standard., 1911-07-01
GOVERNMENT BILL
IN CRITICAL STAGE
Coronation Over, Attention is Once
More Rivited on the House
of Lords.
Burning Question of the Hour is,
Will the Lords Balk at Accept
ing Their Fate?
O'Connor Believes Asquith Has Guar
antees But Won't lIave to Make
Use of Them.

Mr.. T. P. O'Connor, cabling to the
Chicago Tribune from London, June
"a, sums up the situations in British
politics as follows:
The approach of the tiercest hour
of the long drawn out conflict be-
tween the lords and commons next
week will obliterate the coronation
and the other events. Already there
are portentus signs in the political
sky OF the coming storm.
The house Of lords will resume the
consideration Of the veto bill Wednes-
day and the government will reply
to their inadmissible demands within
few hours after receiving them.
The Tories cannot live long without
some scare. The are working at
this moment first over the declaration
of London The protectionists and
yellow journals and all of the admirals
have raised the cry that this declara-
ton surrenders such important Eng
lsh rights of naval warfare as to
threaten England with defeat in the
first naval battles, followed by univer-
of ships bearing food to England.
The, battle now is transferred 70
tfSo house of cep1r1sufs q ana ssso5n .,Wss
shall have a debate and violent
| speeches there, but the declaration
will be carried by an unbroken coali-
! ton majority.
! The second scare is even more RI
| diculous. during the last week the re-
| port was industriously circulate that a
new general election must come in
August. This report was founded on
the alleged intention Of the house of
lords to adhere obstinately to the
amendment excluding home rule from
| the operation of the veto bill.
] Everybody took it for granted that
after the refusal of the lords to divide
ON the second reading of the bill and
Rosebery's speech of disparaging APP
peal that the veto bill would be
promptly swallowed after hypocritical
pretense by the lords that they in
tended to fight to the bitter end.
| Peers Make New "BIuH."
Now new current has set in and
the declaration is freely made that
the lords will not shrink from forcing
Premier Asquith to ask the king to
create the new peers. This report is
accompanied blythe further report that
Asquith was playing game Of bluff
and had no guarantees from the king
which would enable him to create the
new peers.
| 1 attach little Importance to this
last desperate cry. l am convinced
that Asquith has the guarantees, that
he will exercise them if it is neces-
sary, and that the lords are only try
ing to make a last stand to save
their faces.
The home rulers rejoice in these in
cidents. They bring to home rule gil
gantic help by rousing all of the demo-
cratic feeling in England to further
fury against the arrogance Of the
lords. When the last stand of the
lords against home rule ends in abject
surrender, as it must the real battle
over home rule will have been pre-
ceded by splendid victory in the en-
gagement Of the outposts.
Prepare for Fight in Fall.
In the meantime both parties are
preparing desperately for the cam
paign in autumn. The moment the
veto bill is passed into a law the Lib
erals will start Home Rule league
to organize compaign meetings, sen6
out literature and everything else
Large sums of money already have
, been subscribed by the Liberals t.
J this new organization, and the worl
is only postponed up to the presen
/ test. The premature start of tn,
, home rule campaign would give coun
3 tenance to the Tory plea that the vett
: bill ? is only intended to carry hom,
rule.
The Irish will cooperate in this Eng
! lish- league, and Redmond an,
the other prominent Irish leader