20 NOVEMBER 1909, Page 17

NEWS OF THE WEEK

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THE chief event of the week has been the notice given in the House of Lords on Monday by Lord Lansdowne that, when the second reading of the Finance Bill comes on, he will move "That this House is not justified in giving its consent- to this Bill until it has been submitted to the judgment of the country." In other words, he upholds what we have always held to be the true function of the Lords,—namely, to secure the endorsement of the electors for any measure of the first importance on which, in the opinion of the Second House, the judgment of the electors had not been previously obtained.