Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1911-01-07
Police Inquiries Expose Orange
men aud Their Ridiculous
Threats.
Hope to Finish Struggle Before
the Coronation Takes
Place.
CHRISTMAS TRUCE STILL EXISTS

The Christmas truce, cables T. P
| IO'Connor, M. p, from London, to
the Chicago Tribune, so far as inter
nal politics is concerned, still exists
Most of the Cabinet Ministers have
left London, and are slowly recover
ing from the gigantic fatigues OF
| the general election. Premier AS
quith, who has a certain scorn for
the world of politicians, hides him.
self as usual in the wilds of Scot
land; and Lloyd-George, more
genial and gregarious and always
fond of a scamper on the continent,
is nursing a severe cold at Monte
Carlo, while the recent tide of disas-
ters is more than enough to occupy
| Winston Churchill.
AS to the coming Parliament, the
swearing in starts on the last day of
January. The fixing of so early a
date is one of the many signs that
the Ministry means business and
still hopes to finish the struggle
over the veto before the coronation.
Chancellor Lloyd-George, in an in
terview with the French Journalists,
scouts the idea of a second confer
ence or of another election and
speaks of the veto struggle as prac-
tically closed by the last decisive
election. Sir Charles Dixie, who as
an Independent member takes a
more detached view and who is a
shrewd and experienced politician,
also agrees that the veto struggle is
over and that the Lords will accept
the Ministerial bill. Dixie also an
ticipates that Irish home rule will
be the first business after the
passage of the veto. In the mean
time the Ulster Orangemen are
playing their old game of threaten
ing civil war They make bellicose
speeches, recommend the drill and
the purchase of arms and in bogus
advertisements in the German papers
ask for a supply of cheap guns. All
inquiries by the police fail to
materialize either the drill or arms,
and the whole thing is shown as
ridiculous attempt to frighten the
public opinion in England.
Will 500 new Peers be created?
That is the question that is puzzling
many people. 1t is not the first
time in history that a British Lib
eral Cabinet has had to face this
contingency-that is, not in so ag-
gravated shape. When the
Ministry of Lord Grey in 1892
brought in the reform bill-the first
measure to destroy the rotten bor-
ough system-the Lords threw it
out and threatened to repeat the
operation. Grey then got King
William, very unwilllngly, to give
him a conditional promise that he
would create enough Peers to carry
the measure: and r. was the threat
OF this catastrophe that brought the
Peers to their senses, and they
passed the bill. There is an idea
that the present Ministry would
shrink from theis extreme step IL
the Peers rejected the veto bill; but
they will not. The men of this
Ministry, differing on many points,
do not differ in their contempt and
indeed hatred for the Lords.
One of the little ironies and the
unrevealed stories of the prolonged
and difficult negotiations between
the Liberal and the Irish parties,
which nearly wrecked everything,
was that Grey was holding out IN
the Cabinet for an immediate tack
ling OF the question of the reform
of the House of Lords. Grey wanted
its entire abolition in its present
shape, and the substitution therefor
Of an entirely elective chamber. IL
will come to that in the end, but
meantime 1t would have been folly
to have entered on such programme
at this moment. The Lords would
not have accepted 1t, and the Liberal
party would have broken up on the
details. But still, this incident
shows that Grey. as one of the mod
crates of the Cabinet, would not OBJ
ject to any measures against the
Lords As for two such extremists
as Lloyd-George and Winston Churc-
hill, everybody knows that they are
ready for almost anything and
that they would create a thousand
Peers II necessary TO swamp the
present body.
Lloyd-George speaks quite cheer
lily and even airily of the 500 Peers
that would be necessary II the Lords
proved obstinate. and maintains that
very respectable lot OF Liberals
could be found up and down the
country who would fill the bill.
Ireland no longer will vex the
general emperor or be the battledore
and shuttlecock OF English parties.
And II the deluge comes after the
second Asqulth Ministry It can't do
very much harm.