Next comes the hatred of the Nationalist Party for the
proposal. They, we learn, have expressed the clearest deter- mination that the thing shall not be. They know that the precedent of the Referendum would almost certainly be applied to a Home-rule Bill, and they know also that this would be its death-knell. Therefore they declare that the Referendum shall never be introduced, either ad hoc for the Veto Bill or in the form of a general statute. They point out also that the Government must meet their wishes in this matter. Finally, there is the fact that a large section of the Radical Party dread beyond measure the idea of a Referendum. They believe that it would be fatal to their schemes of reform. It is also alleged that the House of Lords would never consent to such an innovation, but here we are convinced that the wish is father to the thought. The majority of the House of Lords are in no sense Tories of the Eldon type, who reject all innovations and object to new ideas because they are new. If the Lords refuse to take the initiative in the matter that we desire, it will be because they dread their action being misrepresented. On the whole, however, we believe that the country will gradually come to see that the addition of a Referendum clause and schedule to the Veto Bill is the least objectionable of all the alternatives pre- sented for solving a crisis which must be solved if the King's government is to be carried on.
