136 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

properly, the Second Chamber would have to be a small body of
people with legal knowledge and political experience, and the
majority of its members should hold the same political opinions
as the majority in the First Chamber; otherwise they would not
try to improve the drafting of Bills, but to defeat their purpose.
The present House of Lords is therefore unsuitable.

(2) A Second Chamber whose members do not have to be
elected can deal with problems which cut across party divisions,
and which ordinary politicians fear to touch, lest they should
lose votes. The 1937 Marriage Act was an outstanding example.
Every Member of the Commons had to say to himself "There are
many voters in my constituency who always vote against me
because they sympathise with another party; if I favour a change
in the marriage laws I shall offend some of my regular supporters
and so ad4 to the hostile vote; nor can I be sure that those who
want the change will come over to my side if their usual party
allegiance is elsewhere. I may be told that I ought to vote for
what I think right, and take the consequences; but I do not think
it right to risk losing a seat to the opposing party, whose principles
I believe to be wrong and dangerous". This did not mean, of
course, that the Commons were tongue-tied on the Marriage
Bill; but they showed excessive caution. In the Lords a debate of
high quality was held, to which men with legal and medical
experience made valuable contributions. The Bill was altered so
that it probably came nearer to the wishes of the people; and,
with the trail thus blazed, the Commons were willing to follow,
and accepted the Lords' amendments. A reasonable case may be
made, therefore, for a Second Chamber composed entirely of
persons chosen for their experience, the hereditary principle
being abandoned. Yet freedom from anxiety about the opinions
of voters will not always lead to wise and courageous action; the
Chamber might be tempted to act simply in its own interest,
because it would not have to consider that of others.

(3) The Second Chamber can act as a check on the First; if the
latter disregards the wishes of the people. When a year or more