MR. BALFOUR'S MANIFESTO.
[TO THE EDITOR 07 THE "SPECTATOR.")
fear that Mr. Balfour's manifesto gives the country insufficient assurance that if the Unionist Party should be returned to power the reform of the House of Lords will be immediately undertaken. The possibility of its reconstruction is foreshadowed, but that is not enough. A drastic change, the restriction of numbers, a copious infusion of life-Peers or life-Senators, the admission of the elective principle, is essential to satisfy the rational requirements of thinking men of either party. The day for a Legislative Chamber, armed with adequate powers, but based solely on the hereditary principle, is gone. The task can only be safely undertaken by a Unionist Government, and the promise to undertake it should be given now, while the voting hangs
in the balance.—I am, Sir, &c., CONSERVATOR.
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