Lord Hugh Cecil said that Mr. Redmond desired a Con-
stitutional outrage ; hay was to be made of the Constitution while the setting sun of Radicalism still shone. The reform of the Lords was the solution of the whole difficulty, but "of 211 the silly proposals ever made, the proposal first to abolish the veto of the House of Peers, and then to reform its con- stitution, is the silliest." Mr. Healy ridiculed the Opposition for practically supporting the Motion. If they believed the Budget was bad, and the House of Lords policy was bad, why did not they turn the Government out P Instead of doing so they were about to give the Government a reprieve till Easter. Mr. Austen Chamberlain retorted that the Opposition desired nothing more than to join issue with the Government on the great questions of the Lords and the Budget, but they were influenced by the fact that the King's government must be carried on. Mr. Lloyd George declared definitely that if the Resolutions were rejected by the Lords, and guarantees could not be obtained, the Government would resign. Eventually, after Mr. Bowles had remarked that "the Budget is dead," the Prime Minister's Motion was agreed to without a division while the Irish Nationalists were still discussing outside the House what course they should adopt.
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