SCIENTIFIC PARLIAMENTARY REFORM 373 



very brief examination of the matters referred to the Speaker's 

 Conference, though these are, for the most part, under present 

 circumstances, of quite secondary importance. 



(a) The reform of the Franchise and (c) the reform of the 

 system of registration of electors are closely associated subjects. 

 The former — if it is serious at all — implies the widest possible 

 extension of the right to vote, while the latter resolves itself 

 into the simplification of our present absurd system of regis- 

 tration. These are highly technical subjects, owing to the 

 present multiplication of franchises and the consequent com- 

 plexity of the Register. " Adult Suffrage," once the war cry 

 of the most dangerous type of Radical, no longer alarms the 

 most Tory of Conservatives. The question is admittedly one 

 of expediency, and, subject to reasonable safeguards, there is 

 every reason to believe that all parties will ultimately agree 

 to the enfranchisement of all reputable persons, male and 

 female, of a specified age. But whether this future measure 

 of enfranchisement is accorded soon or late, it is certain that 

 the nation will insist upon the immediate grant of the Fran- 

 chise, the symbol of citizenship, to every soldier and sailor who 

 has served his king and country, on land or sea, as well as to 

 the men and women whose tireless and equally patriotic 

 labour in the munition factories will have no less contributed 

 to the certain victory of our arms. It is unnecessary here to 

 enumerate the multitudinous qualifications, and disqualifi- 

 cations, for the Franchise which are recognised by our existing 

 electoral laws or to refer to the vagaries of the Annual Regis- 

 tration Courts. While it is obvious that machinery must 

 exist to provide, among other things, for the identification of 

 every individual voter, and that registers must therefore be 

 kept, it is equally obvious that no reform can be satisfactory 

 which does not reduce this machinery to a minimum, in the 

 interests alike of efficiency and economy. 



(b) A system under which one-half of the members of the 

 House of Commons represent practically twice as many electors 

 as are represented by the other half of the House, is too absurd 

 to be capable of defence. That, in a nutshell, is the case for 

 redistribution. In the presence of this glaring anomaly, it 

 is futile to discuss individual cases. Apart from the not un- 

 reasonable objection of the Irish members to any reduction 

 in the representation of Ireland, which (though on the basis 



