Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-09-04
LRv Irnl,cd Naval

4
Lords. Englnnd's Legislative upper
/ cha m Der. is threatened with the re
! formers ak
! From the democratic viewpoint,
| the House OF Lords is probably tho
most reactionary Senate 10 he found
In any country today. Tho thing that
makes reform absolutely essential In
those democratic DAYS Ia tho fac, that
the great majority Of It's members
hold their seas hv virtue Of dcscen,
from some peer who was summoned
To som. medieval Parliament by n
warrior monarch. who did not great
~ care about the rights" OF mere
common folk
Under the unwritten constitution
Of Britain. the House II l.ords con
sists Of primes OF tho blood. and
the lords spiritual and temporal" OF
the first grade, nowadays. only royal
dukes are eligible for memhorshIp
and for many wars they hay. dis
crretly refraincd from voting. so that
the throne should not he compro-
missed by intervention In party poll
tics. TIL" present roya! dukes are
the Prince ~ Wales. as Duke OF
Cornwall. the Duke OF York and
Duk" o; Counaught
The lord spiritual" arc limited 10
two archhishopS York and tanter-
bury, and twcnty-four bishops-all
naturally Of III" church OF Engla nd,
as this ~ the state religion.
Han rs Members.
The lord temporal are the hold
crs OF various Kinds OF pc"ragcs. and
their number is limited Only by the
number OF new creations, all holders
OF which automatically take seats.
The present membership Of the House
OF Lords is 135
ri hnlI hot
seats for IN" tenure OF their coolest
astical appointments. hut the peers
ot England. Great Britain and tho
United Kinsdom take their seats on
reaching the age Of 81 and retain
them for life without risk OF being
unseated or option 81 resignation.
Just how to modernizc the House
OF Lords is question on which
scarcely two people agree. Tho Older
type of political thinker insists that
the mere fact tina, "A peer does not
have to worry about getting himself
elected or reelected. places him
above momentary and possibly 'un-
healthy" agitation and scares. and
renders him filter for impartial re-
visinE legislative work
For many ( nerations II has been
an axiom Of british politics that the
Lords may not interfere with national
finance nr taxation.
Premier Asquith's Liberal govern
ment came back with a small ma
joritv. after tho 1910 election. and
proceeded to pass the parliament
act"-more popularity known MS tho
Lords veto which specifically
barred the Lords touching any meas
ure certified by the speaker OF tho
House OF Commons as money bill"
II also limited tho Lords veto TO de-
laying the passage OF any bill more
than two years-providcd no election
interviewed and the House OF Com
mons still desired to enact the meas
ure.
Passed Under Threat.
The House OF Lords only consented
10 pass the veto bill under threat
Of Asquith. who announced that he
had King Edwards promise to create
enough Liberal peers 10 swamp the
antirovernment vote.
One of the pledges Lloyd George
had TO give to the Conservatives in
order to secure their support TO his
coalition government after the war
was TO Introduce a measure of real
reform" of the Lords and since then
he has been able TO sidestep the
question as the Cabinet was appar
entity unab to agree what form the
reform should take. For example,
Lord Chancellor Birkenhead desires
To have n partly elected, partly nomi
mated Senate with supreme revising
powers, something along the lines III
the United States and Continental
Senatcs.
Others Insist on the retention Of
some reform Of hereditary system.
Again others point out that in real
Upper House. not only the Church Of
gland. but other religions should
be represented among the clergy-if
indeed. they are to he retained. This,
however. would cut right across the
esta blished state religion.
The first move towards reform was
made when The government intro
duced series OF resolutions (Which
will have to he submitted to and
| approved by the King. In order TO
got round constitutional rocks) pro-
vidlng for partly elective. partly
nominative house. whose membership
would be limited to a50. It was
also proposed 10 abolish tho mandate
az 10 what constitutes "money
bill" and to leave decisions on this
point to a joint committee Of both
houses.
Bill Raised Rumpus.
Promptly Liberals and Labor men
raised the cry that this would give
| the lords power TO tamper with taxa
ton and expenditure. Liberals. in
| ftct. are strongly opposed to any
alteration Of their beloved veto
| bill" Lahorites are also suspicious
! OF any hody on which they fear tn. y
would never obtain q strong repre-
scntation.
An election is regarded as incvi-
| table before any definite steps can
| be taken. This would ncccssitaie
the whole scheme being gone into
| notwithstanding to the viewpoint OF
tho party successful at the polls.
Demands that the government
make good It's electoral promises by
| submitting a plan for the reform
| ~ the membership OF the House OF
| Lords have been met. after many
/ delays. by the reading In the House
. OF Commons by Lord Crawford OF
rssolutions covering tho proposed
changes. They arc:
| THAT this House shalt be oem-
l,posed in addition TO peerh Of the
Blood Royal. Lords Spiritual, and Law
Lords. Of
| (a) Msn,bers elected, either direct