up
to unreasonable hours to pass taxes by which they are mulcted as much
as any Tory? Men who have gone on even at the cost of their lives--had
he no word for them? We to-night gathered together here in the
National Liberal Club have a word and a cheer for the private members
of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons who have fought this
battle through with unequalled loyalty and firmness, and who have
shown a development of Parliamentary power to carry a great measure
which I venture to say has no counterpart in the Parliamentary history
of this country.

Well, that long process of debate, of argument, of concession, of
compromise, of conciliation will very soon come to an end. When the
Budget leaves the House of Commons the time of discussion, so far as
we are concerned, will have come to an end. It will leave the House of
Commons in a final form, and no amendment by the House of Lords will
be entertained by us. I have heard it often said, and I have read it
more often still, that there are some members of the Cabinet who want
to see the Budget rejected, and I have even been shocked to find
myself mentioned as one of these Machiavellian intriguers. To those
who say we want to see the Budget rejected I reply, That is not true.
As Party men we cannot be blind to the great tactical advantages which
such an event would confer upon us. We cannot pretend that our
feelings in such an event would be feelings of melancholy; but we have
our work to do. Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business. We
have our work to do. We have large, complex schemes of social
organisation and financial reform on which we have consumed our
efforts, and which we desire to see, at the shortest possible date,
brought to conception and maturity. We do not want to see the finances
of the country plunged into inextricable confusion, and hideous loss
inflicted on the mass of the people and the taxpayers. For my part, I
say without hesitation I do not at all wish to see British politics
enter upon a violent, storm-shaken, and revolutionary phase. I am
glad, at any rate, if they are to enter upon that phase, it shall be
on the responsibility of others.

Our intentions are straightforward. We seek no conflict; we fear no
conflict. We shall make no overtures to the House of Lords; we shall
accept no compromise. We are not called upon to offer them any
dignified means of escape from a situation into which they have been
betrayed by the reckles