Mr. Balfour examined the manner in which the Parliament Act
was working in the case of the Welsh Church Bill. The idea of the Act, as stated by the Prime Minister, was that no Bill should pans over the heads of the Lords unless it had behind it the general sentiment of the people. How much chance had the ordinary elector of concentrating his attention upon this Bill P There were already two great Bills before the country, and as if they were not enough, the Government had started another great agitation. The whole manner in which the Bill had been treated by the Government showed that it was not a proper measure to force through under the Parliament Act, and further, that if it were, the Government had persistently and intentionally taken every step in their power to prevent the people from adequately considering it. In his belief, the demand for Disestablishment was decreasing, not because people were becoming indifferent to religion, bat because they were beginning to see that the greatest religions -interests were not served by sectarian jealousy and plunder- ing. The Government majority in the division was 62.
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