26 JULY 1913, Page 2

On Monday the House of Lords began the debate on

the Second Reading of the Welsh Disestablishment Bill. The Ministerial benches were almost empty — a pertinent commentary on the unrealities of debate brought about by the Parliament Act. Lord Salisbury moved an amend- ment similar to that carried on the Home Rule Bill— that the House refused to proceed with the Welsh Bill until it had been submitted to the judgment of the country. The Lord Chancellor, who spoke earnestly and with evident sincerity, tried to show historically that the divorce between the Welsh Church and the Welsh people was already complete, and that the Bill only sanctioned formally what had already happened. The Bill represented " a noble and a righteous cause."