Speaking at Edinburgh last Saturday at the invitation of a
non-party group, Lord Rosebery surveyed the political situation. Mr. Redmond was trying to impose his will on the United Kingdom with the help of foreign gold, and his method was rightly described as a dictatorship. The Unionists offered reform of the Lords, and he himself bad been faithful to that cause for very many years. But the Government had openly adopted the policy of shirking reform. They had adopted the policy which Sir Edward Grey had previously described as " a policy of death, disaster, and damnation." Theirs was unquestionably a scheme for single-Chamber government, a principle denounced alike by Cromwell and Mirabeau. The party managers—the federations or caucuses—would decide what was to be thrust on the country in the name of democracy. Under the single- Chamber government promised by Mr. Asquith it would become the object of the House of Commons to prolong its existence, and to increase the salaries of its Members. Speaking of the Election, Lord Rosebery said :—" I venture to say that if the Government lose but five seats on balance, they cannot proceed with their proposals." As to the ultimate solution of the Constitutional question, he said :—" It is only by the mutual agreement of both parties, however arrived at, that any definite Constitutional arrangement can be come to."
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