Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman answered Mr. Balfour's speech point by point.
He reminded the Opposition that in 1897 and 1902, when Mr. Balfour was himself in office, there were Colonial Conferences, but they were not mentioned in the King's Speech. He accepted the interpretation that the clause dealing with the House of Lords was the most important. The House of Lords had been called a watch- dog. The difficulty was that this watchdog was some- times somnolent and sometimes awoke to ferocious activity. When the Government was of a certain complexion the House of Lords abdicated its powers as a revising body ; but when the other side came into office it became aggressive. The Leader of the present Opposition could always rely upon men "not elected but born to support him." The Prime Minister suggested that the difficulty might be "easier of solution than many people thought." "At all events," he added, " settled it must be." As for Irish legislation, he asked whether the House could really deny the Irish people the right to manage their own domestic affairs, provided that they did not interfere with ours, or impair the supremacy of Parliament and the established relations between the two countries. The Irish people should have what every self- governing Colony had. That was his "larger policy."
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