Evening star., 1923-04-11
rY FREDERICK c. OWEN. c. d. e.
ORD NEwToN's recent plea i,

ORD NEWTON'S recent plea in
the upper house of parliament
at Westminster for it's reform
is not of a nature to create
NY undue alarm among its 737 mem
'ers. The question is one which has
cen under more or less serious dis
'Gssion at various times during the
tst half century. Many peers have
.Npressed themselves as in favor of
ONE sort Of remedial measures. but
With their tongues in their cheeks.
1t has had several schemes of re-
Form under considerations: among
rhem one drawn up by a joint parlia-
nentary committee presided over by
ord Bryce. 1t did not, however,
meet with the approval of the cham
ber whose existence was at stake,
and in fact the members were quite
rude about it, and the terms of de-
"ision and condemnation applied to
it were "a sham" "a mockery." "a
rotted scheme" illogical" 'incoher-
mt very crude" "a shapeless
monster" "a skeleton" vague and
.cnuous." while Lord Willoughby dc
,;roke brought an atmosphere of the
uniting field into the debate by pro-
.estinS violently against any inter-
'crence with the hereditary princi-
,ie. which was the only principle on
which one could found any institu-
ion, whether 1t were the monarchy,
The house of lords or pack of fox
hounds.
IF Lord Newton spoke so strongly
on the subject the other day 1t was
not because he hoped to accomplish
anything thereby in the way of re-
'orm, but merely by way of register
ing a protest-one of many to which
he has already given utterance on
the subject. Perhaps he had been
sentiments by a scheme lately sug-
.;ested by Lord Philimore. one of
the most conscientious judges who
has ever sat on the English bench,
and who. now that he has been raised
20 the peerage. is equally conscientious
about his Legislative duties and
anxious that all his fellow members
of tho upper house should be the
same. He suggests that In view OF
the fact that out of a membership OF
over seven hundred members of the
house of lords the average attend
ance in the gilded chamber does not
cxceed half hundred. and often not
enough to make a quorum. no peer
on receiving one from the crown
should become entitled to the royal
writ of summons (without which he
cannot take his seaD unless he gives
an undertaking to attend the house
regularly during five years and to sit
on committees, save employed other
wise in the service of the crown.
1t would seem that there are some
TWO hundred peers at the present
who have never even troubled to
take their seats, Ontent with the
title and it's prerogatives, but un-
willing to devote any time to the
service of the crown and of the ma
ton. It is only when some vital is
sue affecting their own interests as
class is at stake that they suddenly
appear from all sorts of places, even
from lunatic asylums, on the scene
to register their votes. For once
peer is in possession of his writ OF
summons. nothing short of impeach-
ment and attainder can deprive him
Of his vote. In the house of COM
mons a member who is gaZetted a
while conviction of a felony entails
formal expulsion, as in the case OF
Horatio Bottomley. But a peer may
have been judicially pronounced in
have been convicted of felony and
out on bail. pending appeal; there are
no means of expelling him from the
house of lords or even of depriving
him of his prerogatlve OF passing his
vote on issues where the interests of
the entire British empire are vitally
concerned.
No one entertains a greater degree
of contempt for the house Of lords
,harr Lord Newton, who, blessed with
very charming American daughter
in-law in the person Of Sarah, daugh-
ter of the late ]. c. Bradford, judge
Of the supreme court Of Nashville,
Tenn, has sometimes been described
AS the Henry Labouchere of the house
of lords. owing to his ready wit, his
keen sense OF humor, the sparkle. the
Internationally and the breeziness
of his clever speeches. 1t was he who
immortalized his friend, Lord Rose
berry, on one occasion in the upper
chamber by designating him as "a
sort of a political prima DONNA an
other time as "a soft-nosed torpedo,
while he stigmatized the house of
lords itself as "a sort of hybrid be-
tween registry office and debating
society" and another time as I'm
finitely the most good-natured and
long suffering assembly in existence
place where the biggest bore might
die without ever discovering that he
WAS anything but the most accept
able speaker of the house. He Ia
beled the late Marquis Of London
dery as sLondondreary" and as "a
middle aged cage eagle, while in one
memorable instance, when the con-
scrvatives were disinclined to follow
the directions of their leader in the
house, the Marquis of Lansdowne. he
exclaimed: Sir. we have the most
profound admiration for your charac
ter. We respect you as man. as
husband and as a father, but as re-
CARDS your orders we propose to act
IN a precisely different direction
j: x x :;
Head of the very ancient and very
wealthy house of Leigh in Lancashire,
which mas been in possession of it's es-
tate of Lyme Park in that county since
the reign of King Edward I, and where
the bedstead on which Edward the
Black Prince slept when he stayed at
Lyme as the guest of Sir Peter Leigh,
his companion arms at the Battle Of
Poictiers-a bedstead used in turn by
Queen Elizabeth. by Mary Queen of
nv Charles hv Jan1as IT. and