The Irish standard., 1911-05-20
Lansdowne's New Scheme for House
of Lords Reform Fails to Gain
Adherents.
Helplessness of Tories Makes Final
Stages of Fight in Commons
Laughable.
Lords to Postpone Final Action on
Veto Bill Until After the
Coronation.

~ SC1hoi IS"lHS liC IiII-
ish political situation in his London
dispatch of May 13 to the Chicago
Tribune, sounds note Of optimism
which will be received with pleasure
by all who are Interested in the prog
ress of the fight being waged over the
veto bill. He says:
The Tories have reached that stage
which prize fighter reaches when he
is so clearly beaten that he strikes
out wildly and anyhow and, thus ex-
posing himself to worse punishment.
brings defeat more speedily and more
completely.
Every new Tory move strengthens
and unites their enemies and weak
ems and divides their own ranks.
Lansdowne's new scheme for the
house of lords reform. for instance.
has not won a single Liberal and has
made the Liberals now more confident
and aggressive than ever.
The scheme was intended by Lans-
downe to make the Liberal position Oh
the veto bill so difficult that they
might be forced to accept the scheme
az an alternative to the veto bill and
thus get rid Of the veto bill Il.
Morley Answers ProposaI.
The Liberal reply to such a sug-
gestion came promptly and defiantly
from the lips of Lord Morley in the
house of lords. He said no such
suggestion would be entertained for d
moment. The veto bill must go for
ward till it becomes a law, and yet
nobody denies that the Lansdowne
scheme, though defective and fantas-
tic, marks an extraordinary advance
on any proposal for self-destruction
yet advanced by the Tories.
1t is from their point of view a
death and burial by their own hands
without any hope of the resurrection
Of the old house of lords.
Such an abject surrender and such
suicide comes within two years of the
| rejection OF the LloydGeorge budget
| in the most arrogant form of the lords
pretension to omnipotence. 1t was the
most remarkable, speediest, and most
complete case Of self destruction of
century-old tyranny known to his
tory.
In the meantime Lansdowne's pro-
! posal further breaks up the Tory
ranks. The backwoodsmen peers who
obeyed Lansdowne's a,ivice in reject
ing the budget are rewarded by being
thrown by him to the Liberal wolves.
Gould, the Liberal caricaturist, hits
off the situation delightfully."-, repre-
senting Lansdowne as the headsman
with an ak in his hand. the block at
his feet swectly inviting the back
woodsmen to put their heads on the
block
1t is not surprising under these cir
cumstances that the final stages Of
the veto fight in the house of COM
mons has become laughably futile.
Everybody deserted the house Of COM
mons and the Tory orators denounced
the revolution in lurid language to
audiences Of three and four members
and this small audience only replied
with loud outlaws at these prophecies
of coming national disaster.
1t was like play which the author
intended to be a moving tragedy and
the audience insisted on treating as q
broad farce.
! . Outlook for the Future.
We now know clearly the prospect
of the immediate future. The house
of lords finally has resolved to accept
the veto bill on second reading. The
peers will then postpone the subse-
quent stages till after the coronation
and then will begin an attempt to ca
jole the Liberals into a compromise
of some kind or other. The Liberals
will be asked to drop the veto bill and
accept new and reformed house Of
lords as q substitute.
! The latter suggestion already has
been dismissed by the Liberals. Next
the lords will propose the dropping Of