The Irish standard., 1913-07-26
Still Debate Bills as if They Pos.
sessed Absolute Power to
Reject Them.
Lord Curzon Most Radical Among
the Peers-Asserts Right
toisAmend.
Skeleton Battalions of Unarmed
Warriors in Ulster Drill
ling Away.

The English House of Lords since
the passage of the Veto bill is no
longer an institution Of power, but
their lordships still retain their old
time arrogance. Little interest at
tached to what they would do with
| the Irish Home Rule bill and the other
great bills passed by the liberal min
istry, but a great deal of interest was
manifested in the way they would
deal with them. The lords, nothing
loath by the diminution Of their voice
| in the government, held their heads
as high and spoke as imperiously as
| il their voice carried weight. Com
menting on their rejection of the
Home Rule and the other bills, T. p.
OConnor, in special cable to the
| Chicago Tribune, says:
Small Attendance at Debate.
The deate was carried on amid an
atmosphere Of uninterrupted somnol-
ence and with a small attendance
from the public but what has inter-
| ested and excited the public is the
| extraordinary spectacle of the House
Of Lords still talking and acting as
II the parliament act had not become
! a law and as If the situation remained
exactly the same as when the House
of Lords had an omnipotent voice
over the fate Of all liberal legislation.
Lord Curzon was notable even
among the peers for his arrogance Of
character, appearance and opinions
and he pushed this doctrine SO far as
to assert that even If another general
election Were to result in favor Of
Home Rule the House of Lords would
still claim the right to amend it in
any way 1t pleased.
Warriors Are Scarce.
Similarly in Ulster Carson keeps on
repeating threats of civil war and
holds reviews 81 skeleton battalions
Of his unarmedS warriors. II is sig
nificant of the blind fury and the alb
sence Of all power of rational appreci-
alton of political situation that the
tories have now convinced themselves
that Asquith will funk in carrying the
Home Rule bill and some tory proph-
cts go even to the length of saying
that Asquith will retire from office
next February.
This extraordinary illusion has
proved too much for the moderate
unionists organ like the Birmingham
Daily Post which publicly warns its
tory leaders that Asquith's retire.
ment until he has put Home Rule on
the statute book. is unthinkable and
that he remains inflexible in his re-
solve to succeed in settling the Irish
question where Gladstone failed.
! Asquith, at the private dinner with
the Irish members last week, left no
doubt upon that point, declaring that
the passage of Home Rule next year
was as certain as that he was on his
legs addressing them.
Election Rumor Without Foundation.
| Another widespread rumor, equally
ridiculous it is said even by some
stupid fellows among the liberal jour-
nalists and by one liberal peer, that
another general election will take
place before the Irish parliament
comes into existence and that thus
the tories will be given an opportun-
ity of preventing 1t ever meeting If
they win that election. Some people
even add to that story the additional
fable that Asquith and Redmond have
come to an understanding on the sit
ting of the Irish parliament.
There is no foundation for the
story. The Irish parliament will be
brought into existence the first pos
sible moment after the bill passes
into law. It probably will be a law
in June and possibly in May, and
within a few days afterward Redmond
will be made prime minister of Ire
land and six months after the pas
sage Of the act the Irish parliament
will be elected and sitting in Dublin
1