Mr. Balfour refrained from looking at the question in any
party spirit. Nowadays more Members were capable of debating and wanted to take part in debate. The days when the House was a jury and listened to speeches from the Front Benches were gone for ever. " I would not wish them back if I could, because it really means that there was less keen political interest in the day-to-day work of the House." The procedure for dealing with finance needed reform, and the Government ought to have invented new machinery long ago. A Budget Committee had been suggested, but no representa- tive of the Government was to serve on it. The result of the division on Mr. Asquith's resolution was undoubtedly an omen. Such signs always herald disintegration. The Government may survive several such shocks, but the shocks cannot go on very long because they are symptoms of a fatal disease.
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