In the last article of this series it was stated that the rejection by the House of Lords of the Budget of 1909 brought before the British people not only a fundamental question of taxation, but the constitutional question of the position of the Upper House. For centuries it had been generally conceded that the authority over finance belonged exclusively to the House of Commons. But the Lords in 1909, claiming that the new proposals were revolutionary, passed a resolution respecting the budget, “that this House is not justified in giving its consent to this bill until it has been submitted to the judgment of the country.” The Commons answered by another resolution that this action was “a breach of the Constitution and a usurpation of the rights of the Commons.” Nevertheless it was necessary for the ministry to dissolve Parliament in January 1910, and carry the issue before the voters. In the campaign the Liberals stood for the budget, the denial of the right of the Lords to reject it, and home rule for Ireland. The Labor party, in addition to supporting the views of organized labor on questions affecting working men, were strongly in favor of the budget. The Irish Nationalists, as always, put Irish home rule before everything else. The Conservatives, under the name of Unionists, which they use to emphasize their opposition to home rule, made their campaign chiefly on the issue of “tariff reform,” which in Great Britain means the abandonment of her free trade policy. Sentiment in favor of doing this has greatly increased in recent years, and those who favor it are supplied with much greater financial resources for pushing their views than those who uphold the present policy. It would not surprise the present writer to see Great Britain return to the “protective” system, though he believes it would be a misfortune of the greatest magnitude to the British people.