Speculation as to the course which political events will take
when the new Parliament assembles are naturally rife, but we see no reason to alter the view of the results which we gave last week. The Government have it in their power to pass the Veto Bill through the House of Lords, as well as through the House of Commons, with no concessions what- ever. That is a fact which it is no use blinking, and which we do not intend to blink. On the other hand, the House of Lords can force the Government to make five hundred Peers in order to carry their Bill, and it can do so without taking any step which is illegal or unconstitutional. We need hardly say that if the Lords refuse to pass the Bill until a sufficient number of Peers have been made to carry it against the wishes of the existing House, they will take this step not out of pique or "cussedness," but in order to oblige the Government to take up the question of the Second Chamber in earnest, and to assent to some reform of the Lords. Remember, it is not the Unionist Party or the House of Lords which is unwilling to reform the Second Chamber, but the Liberals and the House of Commons.
