Lord Rosebery's selected subject was, however, the House of Lords.
He maintains that it cannot be abolished. without revolution—which is only true if the Peers could not he induced to vote their .own extinction, and there are alternatives they would like less—and therefore the House must be reformed. His -plan is that the Lords should elect a certain-:number of working Peers, and that to these should he added certain Life- Peers, representing all classes,interests, and Departments, and especially. the Colonies. He objected strongly to putting in mere notabilities, and so making of the Upper House a 6` legis- lative dunghill," on which all-rubbish would be shot. :Insreturn for thssloss suffered by the Peers who were not eleotedshewould allow any Peer to choose- whether he would or. would not pre- sent himself as a candidate for the House of Commons. We commend. Lord. Rosebery's honest attempt to improve his House ; but we fear his plan- would not work. The-abler Peers would-go to-the Commons, and the residuum would not only he more Conservative than ever; but stupider too. There -are, we believe, just three working plans for reforming the -Upper House. One is total abolition, the Peers in return being-pro- tested against new -creations, and- allowed- to stand as-- candi- dates- for the Commons. Another is to allow the Crown- after each Dissolution to select a hundred Peers, and make them "the Lords," etiquette preventing the remainder from voting, just as itsprevents Privy Councillors from intruding into the 'Cabinet. And, the third is to allow the County Boards to send up a Senate, which, of course, would not be a-House of Lords at all.
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