At Rugby on Tuesday Lord Salisbury made a very straight..
forward defence of the House of Lords. A Second Chamber was essential, for "otherwise the House of Commons might pass an Act making itself permanent," and the Second Chamber should not be elected, for "they did not want gentlemen there who were always thinking which way the cat was going to jump." On the same evening at Salisbury Sir Edward Grey remarked, in replying to an argument used by Lord Curzon, that "an elective Second Chamber was much less likely to result in a deadlock with a First Chamber, because its Members were in a position to share in the opinions of the people; but when they did come to a deadlock, the same remedy was open as to-day,---to carry an appeal to the people." In the course of a speech at Chester Mr. Wyndham observed that " the overwhelming majority of people, whether Conservatives or Liberals, Unionists or Home-rulers, did not desire to have one landlord—the State—managing every one's affairs through an army of officials, drawing salaries, expecting pensions, and totally ignorant of all the matters in which they meddled." Lord Newton on the same occasion said that the Budget was supposed to be Christian; " but he had failed to recognise any Christianity in the Budget or in Mi. Lloyd George's speeches. On the other hand, he seemed to recognise in them those vices of malice and unaharitableneas against which all men were told tcr beware."
Previous page
