Second Chamber may be, it is the House of Commons which is the
corner-stone of the Constitution. Through it the will of the nation must
be expressed, and embodied in definite action. The representatives in
that House are those chosen by the nation by regular and legal methods
to exercise their judgment, to enact laws, and to control acts of the
executive. It is essential not only to maintain, but to restore the
position of the House of Commons, and insure for it the respect and
confidence of the people. It is impossible to deny that respect and
confidence have been shaken, and that the position of the House is
threatened from two opposite quarters. We hear it daily spoken of as
"that talking shop"; it has been said that it would be better, instead
of having a fine statue of Cromwell outside, to have a living Cromwell
inside to purge it thoroughly. The story of the officer who, on
returning to England after long residence in the East, asked his father
if "that nonsense was going on still," represents a feeling which is
widespread. The present House of Commons, the existence of which has
been necessarily prolonged, has been the subject of bitter and
contemptuous criticism. Much of that criticism is unfair. In spite of
the fact that its attention had first to be directed to questions
directly affecting the War, it has passed the largest extension of the
franchise ever made, and in doing so without doubt carried out the wish
of the nation. It got rid of the fetters imposed on the free expression
of the will of the electors, and the restrictions placed on the free
selection of candidates of small means, by putting the expenses of
returning officers on public funds, and also by making better provision
for the revision of the register of voters. A number of useful Bills
have been passed, and it has been a means of eliciting information from
the Government which the country ought to have, but which would
otherwise have been withheld. It has voted the necessary supplies for
carrying on the War, and freely and readily assented to the increased