TILE LORDS AND PUBLIC BUSINESS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."
Slit,—The Lords complain that "they've got no work to do," and accuse the Government of mismanagement in not introduc-
ing more of its measures into their House, instead of keeping them nearly all for the Commons ; and also in not sooner send- ing up to the Lords the Bills introduced into the Commons.
The answer to their complaints is very plain. If the Govern- ment had introduced any of their important Bills—with the exception of the Burials Bill—into the Lords, is it not abso- lutely certain that the measures would have been rejected in that House, and been lost for the year? The Ground Game Bill, the Employers' Liability Bill, and other Bills would, we may be sure, have been thrown out by large majorities ; whereas now, when it is seen that the Commons have adopted the principle of the Ground Game Bill without a division, and the Govern- ment have been supported by large majorities on the details, and that the Employers' Liability Bill was carried by large numbers, the Lords will think twice before they absolutely reject these measures. The misfortune of the Upper House is that it is notoriously and essentially Conservative, and that, therefore, a Liberal Government has to legislate in spite of it, and is unable to confide in it, or treat it as a friend, in the way that a Conservative Government finds possible.—I am, Sir, &c., S. C. B.
Previous page
