Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-26

| " y X X
The British Empire.-The other
day government spokesman
introduced in the House of Lords a
tentative plan for reform Of that
House. Parliament and the country
at large were startled into the keenest
interest. The necessity of a drastic
| reform has been sufficiently recog
| nized for well nigh a half century
but definite parliamentary action has
| hung fire. ! gather from the sketchy
reports that the main features of
| the plan expounded by the lord
chancellor are as follows:
The total membership of the House
to be reduced from the present TAG
| to $50. The members of the recon
| stituted body to be denominated
Lords of Parliament" in contra.
distinction to Peers" The greater
part Of the lords of Parliament to be
elected by the hereditary Peers from
| among themselves Ia precise prece'
dent is furnished by Scotland whose
Peers are, thus represented at West
| minster), those SO elected to sit for
| IL years, but eligible for re- election
| The Peers not sitting in the upper
house would be eligible for election
| to the House of Commons. The
crown would appoint a certain pro-
| portion of the members for terms OF
II years lin the ordinary case, of
course, these appointees would be
Commoners, but presumably Peers
| might be appointed) to represent the
| Laborites, the Liberals and other
! elements. the upper house being
rightly regarded as in the main a
| conservative annex" The bill en-
! ~ N,fx, -. Inv IN IL &EAk
measure introduced in the Commons
| after it's enactment contemplating
| alteration of the constitution or pow
ers of the House of Lords shall re-
quire approval by two successive
| houses of Commons to it's passage.
| With few exceptions the Lords are
| eager for legislation about as out
| lined in the tentative plan. The
| change proposed in application OF
the hereditary principle is probably
| the least that may consist with long
preservation of that principle in the
constitution Of the upper house. One
hears that the government will rush
discussion of the tentative plan and
| framing and passing of a bill gener-
| ally comfortable thereto. 1t will be
| we'll advised to do SO, for the fol-
lowing reasons:
| ~ may cCdICcly DC UCuDtGu tIldL tilc
present Commons would approve such
bill. The indication Is strong, how.
ever, that the majorty of the next
| House of Commons will not be Con.
servative. A Laborite ma jority might
| be expected to forbear tamperins
with the experiment of an upper
| house reformed as above set forth
| but the danger is considerable that. in
| default thereof, it might set about to
reform the Upper House on a com
pletely non-hereditary basis or even
to abolish the Upper House.
| Conceivably. compromise may be
reached, providing for gradual weak,
ening Of the hereditary element In
| the Upper House to the point at
least where it shall cease to
| be dominant. Some of the lords
| themselves favor this. one of them ex.
pressing himself as follows: "An Up.
per House in which the hereditary
principle should be dominant would be
much less effective bulwark against
revolutionary proposals than one the
constitution OF which should be much
more drastically altesed."
OF course, a reform would not mend
| matters much that should not add
notably to the competency of the
| Upper House. The dispatches do not
inform us as to the degree or nature
of such addition proposed, but 1t must
| be considerable. No doubt fierce de.
bate will center on this feature. One
is curious also to know what is to be