Lord Lansdowne further remarked that the failure of the Conference
was no reason for ending the discussion. " I venture to say that we have no right whatever to assume that because eight members drawn from the two Front Benches did their best to come to an agreement without success, Parliament is to be deprived of all opportunity of dealing with these tremendous problems." He concluded his speech by indicating four points in the Parliament Bill upon which both parties were agreed: First, that the relations between the Houses needed regulation; secondly, that the House of Lords required reform ; thirdly, that the House of Commons should have preponderance in all purely financial matters ; and fourthly, that machinery was necessary for settling serious differences of opinion. Lord Crewe in his reply stated that the Parliament Bill should be at once brought in, but that the Government would not accept any amendments. The Bill was then read a first time, and the second reading fixed for next Monday.
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