11 DECEMBER 1909, Page 2

The demonstration in Trafalgar Square on Saturday last was attended

by an enormous crowd—the Daily News estimates it at twenty thousand, and asserts that it was above all thoughtful—and enlivened by some fiery speeches. Dr. Clifford declared that he was more than ever convinced that the right thing to do was to end the House of Lords. It was, a base falsehood, and was built on a turnip.—Great play was made with a turnip on a pole, surmounted by a coronet, and labelled "The Firstborn."— Mr. Byles, M.P., genially observed that they had got the Lords by the throat, and they were going to strangle them within an inch of their lives ; and Dr. Rutherford, M.P., stated that the Lords were suffering from general paralysis of the insane. Yet we see that the Westminster Gazette, formerly a counsellor of moderation, speaks of the meeting as a highly successful demonstration. But the Westminster Gazette has moved a considerable distance in the last few months. In the leading article of the same issue (Monday, December 6th) we read: "In so far as the Budget is popular, it is precisely because, in the opinion of the working class, it attempts at length to do distributive justice between rich and poor."