New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-24
THE PEERS DEFENCE
Radical Deserters-Lord Morley
Crisis or BurIeSque.
London. July :.

the son Of an earl and haVlnR III Ai'0
vsins the fiery strain Of the Stanhopes'
has always been An advanced radical
q sincere Home Ruler and an advocate
% progressive. democratic policies; and
vet he has attacked Lord Morley with
excited gesture. impassioned manner
and whirling defamation and denounced
ministers for carrying revolutionary
measure at the point OF the bayonet and
for rejecting the referendum as a prac-
teal expedient for ascertaining the VIII
Of the people He has not refrained from
forecasting a reaction which viii bring
the Unionists back into power with re-
sources for reforming the upper house
and making II more powerful than ever
IN legislation. Lord Morley did not
know what 70 say when his own defni-
ton Of democracy was quoted against
himself. and Lord f4aldane, fluent and
srrlmentative as he was, was ineffec-
tive in replying to this irreconcilable
critic The Tory Lords whispered com
placently over this fresh proof that Rad
,caHsm cannot resist the conservative
tendencies OF the gilded chamber.
Lord Courtnevs revolt against the
government On this question Of carrying
ont the will OF the people as expressed
in the last general election was less sur
prising he has always been an aca-
denic Radical with a fixed habit Of
standing so straight as 70 lean back
ward. A keen controversialist and Ia
ho~ior1s student Of constitutional his
to-v and parliamentary proceedings. ne
has lacked the fexibility required for
adapting himself 10 the evolution Of po-
Ntical opinion AS chairman or com
r7tttees he would have been the inevtta-
BILE candidate for Speaker on the retire
-,ent of Mr.. Peel. II the Irish members
could have forgiven him for his vacilla-
ton on the Home Rule question, or II the
Advanced Radicals could have welcomed
the promotion Of so fussy and abstract
a reasoner Mr.. Gladstone did not find
in him q manageable instrument in the
Home Rule struggle, and when the LIB
erals returned 20 power in 1906 the doc
r-!naire was sent upstairs to the House
az Lords. where he would be out OF the
wa. He took an active part in the
Lords debates over the suspension Of the
budget. and as stiff backed parliamen-
,arfan warned the Conservative peers
that thew were inviting destruction. He
has now turned against the government
for ruthless employment Of the closure
iu the lower house and for strenuous
and obstinate resistance 10 the referen-
dunn.
While Lord Courtney at seventy-nine
&c advocating the referendum with the
ardor Of a youthful faddist. Lord Nor
lev al seventv-three, with voice re-
duced 20 a whisper and with natural
force abated. is the main defender Of
the government against the charge Of
disloya!ty 10 the principles Of representa-
1--WE institutions. he has made tie
shortest and firrnest speeches ever de-
llvered bv a leader Of the upper house.
and since the force Of a consistent IN
falterng career Of progressive Liberal
fsrr has been behind them. his whispers
have been more effective than Lord Hal
danes special pleading with full voice
and round periods. To used 70 be pa
tbe+ic 70 see him creeping softly into
the chamber like an aosentninded
stranger who had slipped by mistake
into the wrong house. and it was with
perceptible shiver that he heard himself
addressed "a the noble viscount.'
C.ladstone's most disinterested and de-
voted follower did not want peerage
when there was so much congenial work
p, he done in his own library. He re-
luctantly accepted il when his party
could not dispense with his services, and
he regarded the House Of Lords as
convenient refuge where he could not be
questioned by meddlesome bores respect
Ing the Official secrets OF India. For a
'orr time he seemed out Of touch with
MS environment and listened 20 debates
With an air Of detachment from what
was going on around him. 4 change
has come over him since the leadership
of the Lords has been thrust upon him
The old lion has been aroused and is
full N lighting power.
Honest John" Morley. while Radical
tinker from the time when John Stuart
.uws writings quickened and directed
hts Intellectual activities. was never n
fsddist No leader on the Liberal side
has b.en more independent in his judy
ments n eight-hour movements laoor
aeita-ious and socialist propaganda than
mis- lancashire surgeons son. who mas
never ceased 20 diagnose what ~ IN
sound IN democratic causes. When ne
6,z-,iseas with irony and contempt the
referendum as an artificial device "hlch
VIII render representative government IN
the United Kingdom imperative, 1t IS
not the verdict OF the partisan in politics
but ~ the philosopher employing critical
methods NJ ANALYSIS and exercising the
functions or a monitor Of progressive
denoc-sc,. When he sets his face
r,er,lv AGAINST compromise and rejects
with sco~nful gesture and impassiye race
amendments which completely trans
form the Parliament bill. the force OF his
moderation. intellectual discernment ana
sotrierv Of Judgment is very great nc
does not need 20 make long speeches
against tho referendum-a new-fangIea
contrivance which Unionists nave
caught up with the credulity OF doc'rlh-
aires. He can safely rest his argument
on the fact that the last general election
was virtually a referendum on the qnes-
uone ar issue between Lords and COM
mons. and that the Parliament Dill re-
ceiyed the direct sanction OF the country