Evening star., 1914-07-21
Great Crowds Witness Arrival
of Party Leaders at Buck
ingham Palace.
UNIQUE GATHERING OF
UNITED KINGDOM FORCES
British Press Criticises Conference
as Mistake by the
Sovereign.

LONDON, July 21.-So deep is the III
terest taken by the public of all classes
in the crisis which has arisen over the
Irish home rule question that great
crowds gathered today outside Bucking-
ham Palace to witness the arrival of the
various party leaders who We're to parti-
cipate in the conference inaugurated by
King George with a view to bringing
about Il peaceable settlement.
The Rt. Hon. James Lowther. speaker
of the house of commons. who was chosen
to preside over the conference was the
first to put in an appearance. He was
quickly followed by the eight men who
eral. unionlst. nationalist and IL
sterites. All came in motor cars with
the exception of the Marquis of Lans-
downe, who walked. King George. with
Baron Stamfordham, his private secre-
tary, received the statesmen in the
chamber where the privy council always
meets and he shook hands cordially with
all of them.
Probably this was the first time that
John E. Redmond and John Dillon. the
Irish nationalist leaders. had ever eN
changed greetings with their sovereign,
as it had been the practice of nationalist
members of parliament to remain away
from all functions where members of the
house of commons were likely to be
brought into contact with royalty.
Meeting of Extremists.
The meeting of the conservative and
liberal leaders on such intimate foot
ing was apparently friendly. but could
not have been cordial. as Premier AS
quith and Andrew Bonar Law have been
barely on speaking terms. as Mr.. Law
practically accused the premier in the
house. of commons of lying about re-
cent government plans to suppress the
volunteers.
The Marquis of Lansdowne, leader of
the unionists in the house of lords. and
David Lloyd George. chancellor of the
exchequer, two of the other conferees.
represent the most extreme aristo-
cratic and democratic schools of Brit
ish politics. and are generally believed
to be bitter personal enemies.
AT the same time the members of the
Irish nationalist and Ulster unionist
factions could not have felt much pleas
ure in finding themselves in such close
association.
Since personal feelings among poll
ticians in the United Kingdom never
ran So high as at present, the atmos-
phere Of the gathering could not have
been otherwise than extremely chilly
and formal.
After brief conversation King
about noon. leaving the conferees to
their deliberations
The conference. after being in session
for only an hour and half adjourned
for the day, but will meet again to-
First Criticism Of King.
For the first time in his reign King
George is criticised strongly though
respectfully by some of the very i'm
portant liberal newspapers. which ex-
press the belief today that if his mai
esty forced the holding of a confer
ence on the home rule question he
overstepped the constitutional duty of
a limited monarch and interfered with
the rights of parliament and the re-
sponsibility of the cabinet.
The Manchester Guardian says:
ANY such transfer of the substance
has actually taken place, is. of course
to be deprecated"
The Daily News takes a stronger at
titude. saying:
There are profound misgivings on
the liberal benches. where impatience
at the obstacles put in the path of the
government is reaching the breaking
point. 1t is asked with growing in
dignation whether the story of the past
two years is to be the experience cf
parliament whenever liberal govern
ment Is engaged in passing liberal
measures. Have we only escaped the
domination of the house of lords to
discover that the aristocracy has equal
iy formidable resources at its com
mand to defeat the will of the coun-
t-y?''
The Daily Citizen. the official organ
OF the labor unions. under the heading.
buckingham Palace Again. denounces
the alleged interference of the throne.
and says: The house of commons and
not some private room in a kings pa
ace. is the proper place to debate ana
settle political differences"
Liberals Call Caucus.
Several liberal members of the house of
commons opposed to the conference to-
day called caucus of their sympathizers,
| which probably will adopt resolutions of
a similar character to those passed by the
labor members last night referring to the
undue interference of the crown, which
the labor members said was calculated
to defeat the purposes of the parliament
act.
According to the Daily News, which
represents the section of the radicals that
resents the kings interference, the king
intends to withhold assent from the home
rule bill unless the amending bill is pre-
sented at the same time for the royal
assent. the court view being that the
king is entitled to take this course be-
cause the introduction of the amending
bill has vitiated the procedure under the
| parliament act.
| The Daily News believes that it was
! the difficulty thus raised which compelled
recourse to the round-table conference
| 1t adds that the unionist leaders at first
refused to enter the conference except on
the condition that there should be a gen
| eral election in the autumn. This the
government declined to accede to. where
nnon the kings summons for a confer
ence was put in the form of command
instead of a request.