And the House of Commons? 437 



actually voted for him, so that at the best his vote in Parlia- 

 ment represents nothing but the will of a small proportion 

 of a selected minority of the population of the place, and 

 can in no sense be taken as the will of the people of the 

 constituency. The interests and the will of the voters who 

 did not vote for him, and of those who were not permitted to 

 vote at all, are not represented. What is true of one member 

 and his constituency is true of the House of Commons and 

 the country. 



But why does the country contain so many men without 

 the franchise? Because in Britain poverty disfranchises the 

 citizen. For the House of Commons those that are too 

 poor to have a vote are as though they were not. They 

 have no representation except in the House of Lords. The 

 House of Lords is for all ; the House of Commons for 

 the few. 



Again, the House of Lords consists of made men, with 

 the scientific advantage of having been bred for the work 

 or introduced as new blood. The members of the House 

 of Commons are taken at haphazard, and are for the most 

 part in the making. We think that too liberal use is made 

 of us in the construction. 



Further, we observe that the business which arrives at 

 the House of Lords is despatched in a business-like way, 

 which we look for in vain in the transactions, of the House 

 of Commons. 



The absolute power of the House of Commons to put its 

 hand in our pocket and to take as much as it pleases or 

 can find out of it, and then to spend it in any way that it 

 likes, was acquired at a time when nobody recognised the 

 fundamental irresponsibility of a popular Government. The 

 reckless way in which this power is now exercised fills us with 

 alarm, and we hope, though we do not expect, that the Prime 

 Minister will reveal to us some large measure of devolution in 

 this respect in favour of the House of Lords. 



But it would be absurd to maintain that the many able 

 men who are at the top of their professions, or who are 

 almost by-words for success in their own businesses, are not 



