Not only the upper classes, but a great many of the lower classes
stormed and raged at these and similar words. The _Daily Mail_ went so
far as to give a column of titbits from Lloyd George's speeches in
order to show what a really vulgar and detestable person he was, and
how unfit to occupy any leading position in the state.
The election results as they began to come in indicated that while the
Liberals were losing a number of seats which in years gone by had been
Conservative strongholds, they were, nevertheless, going to retain the
confidence of the country. In the result Mr. Asquith found himself
once again in command of the House of Commons with a majority of one
hundred and twenty-four.
The cards were placed in the hands of the Liberals now, but they had to
be very carefully played. The House of Lords swallowed its humiliation
as best it could and passed the famous Budget on April 28, 1910,
exactly one year after its introduction into the House of Commons.
They did not make any fuss about it, because, as I shall show, they had
other things to think of. I remember the day on which the bill became
law in the House of Lords. There were very few peers present. Several
of the members of the House of Commons walked across from the Commons
to witness the culmination of their effort. Among them was Lloyd
George. He came in under the gallery, sprucely dressed in a morning
coat, his long hair brushed back from his forehead and above his ears
with a neatness which was not observable in his moments of excitement.
To-day he had no work to do: one job was finished and he was only on
the threshold of another. As he stood at the bar he looked over the
members of the House of Lords with a grave and benignant expression
which reminded one of a fond father regarding erring children. I
thought of the studious expression which usually characterized the face
of that daredevil boy down at Llanystumdwy all those years ago. I am
quite sure that the peers who observed him surveying them did not think
he was benignant. If I am any judge of feelings, they looked upon him,
as he stood there at the bar, as a particularly malignant type of
viper. With a genial smile Lloyd George exchanged a chatty word or two
with an M. P. at his side. No one would have guessed that there was
bitterness in his soul at this assembly or that with grim purpose he
was even now marking out the destruction of their powers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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