In the House of Lords on Thursday the second reading
of the Finance Bill was moved by Lord Crewe. Lord Lans- downe, in a speech of great ability, made certain trenchant comments on the measure and the history of its second intro- duction. It was not a purely financial Bill, and the House of Lords was perfectly justified in referring it to the country. Turning to the majority for the Budget, Lord Lansdowne remarked that "the majority included a body of Irish Members, most of whom voted, if I remember right, against the second reading of the Bill, and abstained from voting on the occasion of the third reading, and who now proclaim °that upon the merits they are no great friends of the Budget. What I may term the Nationalist asset was so doubtful that for two long months you did not dare to bring your Budget forward—you who pledged yourselves emphatically that your first act would be, when you came into power, the introduction of the Budget." Turning to the question of the guarantees, Lord Lansdowne pointed out " the process of education" which the Government had gone through. We have not, we regret to say, space to follow Lord Lansdowne here in detail, but all who want to understand the exact position of this point should consult his analysis of these tortuous proceedings.
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