erous occasions the body has imposed a
wholesome check upon the popular branch, and that sometimes it has
interpreted the will of the nation more correctly than has the popular
branch itself. The most reasonable programme of reform would seem to
be, not a total reconstitution of the chamber upon a non-hereditary
basis, but (1) the adoption of the Rosebery principle that the
possession of a peerage shall not of itself entitle the possessor to
sit, (2) the admission to membership of a considerable number of
persons representative of the whole body of peers, and (3) the
introduction of a goodly quota of life peers, appointed by reason of
legal attainments, governmental experience, and other qualities of
fitness and eminence.[163]

[Footnote 162: The Parliament Act is the handiwork,
of course, of the Liberal party, and only that
party is likely to acknowledge the obligation to
follow up the reform of the Lords which the measure
imposes. But the Unionists may be regarded as
committed by Lord Lansdowne's bill to some measure
of popularization of the chamber.]

[Footnote 163: During the discussions of 1910 an
interesting suggestion was offered (April 25) by
Lord Wemyss to the effect that the representative
character of the chamber should be given emphasis
by the admission of three members designated by
each of some twenty-one commercial, professional,
and educational societies of the kingdom, such as
the Royal Academy of Arts, the Society of
Engineers, the Shipping Federation, and the Royal
Institute of British Architects.]

It is to be observed, however, that neither this programme nor any
other that can be offered, unless it be that of popular election,
affords much ground upon which to hope for harmonious relations
between the upper chamber and a Liberal Government. The House of
Lords--_any_ House of Lords in which members sit for life or in
heredity--is inevitably conservative in its political tendencies (p. 115)
and sympathies, which means, as conditions are to-day, that the
chamber is certain to be dominated by adherents of the Unionist party.
History shows that even men who are appointed to the upp