part
sitting by virtue of offices held and qualifications possessed, and in
part designated from outside the ranks of the peerage. A few days
subsequently, the Government's Parliament Bill having been presented
in the second chamber (November 21), Lord Lansdowne, leader of the
Opposition in that chamber, came forward with a fresh series of
resolutions designed to clarify the Unionist position in anticipation
of the elections which were announced for the ensuing month. With
respect to money bills it was declared that the Lords were "prepared
to forego their constitutional right to reject or amend money bills
which are purely financial in character," provided that adequate
provision should be made against tacking, that questions as to whether
a bill or any provision thereof were purely financial should be
referred to a joint committee of the two houses (the Speaker of the
Commons presiding and possessing a casting vote), and that a bill
decided by such a committee to be not purely financial should be dealt
with in a joint sitting of the two houses. With respect to all
measures other than those thus provided for the resolutions declared
that "if a difference arises between the two houses with regard to any
bill other than a money bill in two successive sessions, and with an
interval of not less than one year, and such difference cannot be
adjusted by any other means, it shall be settled in a joint sitting
composed of members of the two houses; provided that if the difference
relates to a matter which is of great gravity, and has not been
adequately submitted for the judgment of the people, it shall not be
referred to the joint sitting, but shall be submitted for decision to
the electors by referendum." It will be observed that these resolutions
were hardly less drastic than were those carried through the (p. 110)
Commons by the ministry. Their adoption involved the abolition of the
absolute veto of the second chamber and might well involve the
intrusting of interests which the peers held dear to the hazards of a
nation-wide referendum.[157] None the less, the resolutions were
agreed to without division, and, both parties having in effect
pronounced the existing legislative system unsatisfactory, the
electorate was asked to choose between the two elaborate substitutes
thus proposed.

[Footnote 157: For the growth of the idea of the
referendum see H. W. Horwill, The Referendum in