Against this the advocates of reforming the House of Lords—those
persons who regard the preamble as a pledge— will no doubt urge that precedence must be given to their scheme for placing the Second Chamber on a popular basis and revising the relations between the two Houses and defining the powers of the new Second Chamber. In such a contest who will win, Mr. Redmond or Sir Edward Grey P. In view of recent history, we can hardly doubt that the master of the situation will be the man who can command seventy votes, not the man who has only his own high character and personal prestige to rely on in the struggle. Remember, too, that there are a very large number of Liberals who are determined not to have any reform of the Upper House, but wish to leave it resting on a purely hereditary basis, and therefore weak and open to public criticism and prejudice. In our opinion, if the Veto Bill passes we shall find that the pledge contained, or supposed to be contained, in the preamble is not worth the paper it is printed on.
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