The Unionist programme, as set forth in Mr. Balfour's speech,
may be briefly summarised as follows. We must provide a Navy which shall secure our supremacy at sea. The House of Lords must be reformed by making it smaller, and by eliminating the purely hereditary element. Half the House should be elected from outside, and the other half composed of Peers sitting ex officio, or by the choice of the present Peers. Joint sittings of the two Houses should settle minor differences. Deadlocks on great Constitutional questions should be settled by direct appeal to the people. There should be a relief from the new License-duties, and in the future the new Land-taxes should go to the local authorities, not to the national Treasury. Agricultural land should be clearly exempted. State insurance, reform of the Poor Law, the transformation of the sitting tenant into the sitting owner, and better housing were among other subjects dealt with by Mr. Balfour.
