Evening star., 1943-05-02
By Raymond p. Brandt.

and was educated at Hotchkiss School,
Yale University and Trinity College,
Cambridge. For two years before the
First World War he was an assistant
corporation counsel for New York City.
A fellow of University College, oxford,
he has had the high rank Of professor
OF jurisprudence since 1891.
The Outpost is a small monthly estab-
lished before Pearl Harbor by group of
Americans in Britain. Its stated pur-
poses were to promote Cd American CO.
operation, short of nothing, with Great
Britain and her Allies in the present war:
co full understanding among English
speaking peoples to assure their perma-
nent association in the establishment
and maintenance of peaceful new
world order.
Writing with the American viewpoint
in mind, Goodhart points out that an
sents all sorts of difficulties because no
one planning rational constitution to-
day would create such a body. The gen.
eral attitude toward it in England, he
reports, is that while no one defends it
in its present form, no one is anxious to
do anything about it. Even the British
Labor party which advocates its aboli-
ton. has not made this a major issue.
Nearly $50 Members.
After quoting W. S. Gilbert in Iolanthe
that the House of Lords docs nothing in
particular but does it very WE'LL" Good
hart proceeds with brief description of
the present upper chamber. consisting
of 0D the royal dukes who take no part
in its activities, as the royal family is
careful to remain outside of all politics;
CD the hereditary peers of Great Britain,
of whom there are about 675; 90 16
representative peers of 81 Scottish peers;
"a IA representative peers of Ireland;
60 7 Lords Of Appeal in Ordinary, and
(6) 26 Lord Spirituals, that is, the Arch
bishops of Canterbury and York, and "a
bishops. In all, there are about $50
persons entitled to membership.
Goodhart observes that the title Of the
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary is odd be-
cause there are no Extraordinary Lords
Of Appeal These seven members are
eminent judges who are given life peer
ages so they may constitute the House
of Lords in its legal aspect as the final
appellate court in Great Britain, COM
parable with our Supreme Court.
These seven jurists, Goodhart points
out, constitute an entirely separate judi
cial body which is connected with the
House of Lords as legislative body only
for historical reasons. Although in
theory any member of the House might
sit as a member of the court, this has
never been done during the past century.
On the other hand. the Law Lords play
an important part in the legislative func-
tions of the House although they rarely
vote on controversial questions
From the practical standpoint" Good
hart writes, "the members of the House
OF Lords can be divided between those
who have inherited their titles and those
who have received them during their
lifetime. 1t is the latter, largely COM
posed of former members of Parlia-
ment, ex-Ambassadors, colonial COVER
nors, generals, admirals and leading in
dustriali-ts, who play the major role in
the House today. t4
Less Than 100 New Peers.
"At first sight this would seem difficult
to explain as there are fewer than a
hundred new peers, but the answer is
that only a small proportion of the
others ever attend debate. The quorum
for the House is only three, and there
are rarely as many as a hundred peers
present In the last 20 years there have
been fewer than is occasions on which
more than 200 have voted. The result is
that the work OF the House is left in
large part to those who are especially
qualified.
This work can be roughly divided into
two parts: "a Debates on motions which
raise matters of general Importance, and
CD actual legislation. It IS the first
which Is Of particular interest at the
present time. A peer raises subject for
debate by moving for papers It is rare
for the molten to be carried to division
as the purpose is to enable general
discussion to be held rather than to reach
a definite conclusion These debates
may prove to be of great value as many
of the elder statesmen have had wide
experience In public affairs. Having no
constituents whom they wish to impress,
the peers only speak when they have
something to say.
The legislative function Of the House
Of Lords has given rise to acute contro-