The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-14
Home Rule on the Second Round
By II. |. MONKS

Presuming that a little information on
the present status of the Irish home rule
bill may be interesting TO some of those
who read in Wednesday mornings paper
that the bill had passed a second read
ing, few words by way of explanation
are necessary 10 make the subject intel
ligible.
The government of Ireland bill. popular
ly known as the home rule BILL" puI /
ports to give a constitution and form OF
government to Ireland different from, in
dependent of, but subject to the imperial
parliament of Great Britain. 1t simply
means placing Ireland in the same rela-
tion to Great Britain that Alabama holds
to the United States. and just as Ala
bama has it's own executive. Legislative
the control and management of all state
matters as distinguished from national. Sd
viii ireland have the control and man.
agement of all purely Irish affairs as dis
tinauished from imperial. And as Ala
bama has representatives in the United
States Congress at Washington, will
Ireland have representatives in the Inn
perial parliament at Westminster This
In short is what the Irish home rule bill
amounts to-
Here it becomes difficult to resist the
temptation TO so into the details of the
circumstances sna1- led up to what is
known as "the veto BILL" passed in 1910
butas it has much to do with the homo
rule bill it's nature must be explained
Previous to 1910 all bills originating In and
being passed in the house of commons
went to the house of lords, where they
were subject to acceptance, amendment or
rejection. If a bill were rejected that
was the end of the bill, no matter how
much time or labor the commons had be-
slowed upon It nor how much the relief
people.
The political parties in parliament are
known as the liberals and the conserva-
tiyes: the liberals representing the popu-
lar and progressive policy, the conserva-
tives the standpat policy Liberal meas
ures were invariably rejected by the
house of lords, or else so amended as 10
amount to mutilation, thereby effectualfy
killing them, md thus rendering abortive
stone passed a home rule bill through the
house of commons in 1896, the house OF
lords not only rejected it, but kicked ii
out and promised to do as much or more
for any similar bill in the future. Having
the power and having made the threat to
kill any and every home rule bill pre-
sented. it was obviously matter of inn
possibility to give ireland home rule so
long as the mousse OF lords stood in the
Way. and there ii stood, beyond the pow
er of removal except by its .own consent
or revolution.
Among the established principles of
party government in Great Britain, there
is none more strictly observed than ihe
power of the chancellor of the eXchequer
to exercise his discretion in the imposition
of taxes to raise revenue. In the exercise
of this power Chancellor Lloyd George in
troduced and passed a budget bill in the
house Of commons in 1863 which in due
course went to the house of lords for rati-
fication but which the house of lords
promptly rejected, thereby viola ting the
established precedent of more than a CEN
tury. This action by the house of lords
gave the house of commons an excuse and
an opportunity ior Introducing a bill To
regulate and limit the power of the house
of lords. and as the purpose of the bill
was to secure passage for liberal legisla-
ton by taking l1o;n the house of lords its
power of veto expressed by rejecting a