Proportional Representation. 29 



certain of being re-elected when the time of election came. It 

 is no great insult to those who may chance to be members of 

 legislative assemblies to say that they have to observe and rule 

 their conduct according to those conditions which prevail during 

 their election. The conditions which now prevail are often 

 unfriendly to the cultivation of the best qualities of statesman- 

 ship. The conditions which, under the plan now suggested 

 to you, might be found to prevail, would be such as would 

 strengthen them and tend to improve them ; and the morale of 

 all the elections would be of a good and strengthening character 

 instead of tending to their deterioration and degradation. How 

 can this be achieved ? Can we have a system by which, if 

 5,000 persons have to elect five members, we can enable them 

 to group themselves together so as to return persons they may 

 choose — 1,000 voting for A, 1,000 for B, 1,000 for C, and so 

 on ? I believe that can be done, and done most easily, and I 

 propose to exhibit in actual form how it can be done. The 

 problem which I am going to put before you is something 

 rather smaller than that — it is the election of three persons. 



The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to conduct a test 

 election. Printed voting papers were distributed among the 

 audience. The following was the 



VOTING PAPER. 



THREE MEMBERS TO BE ELECTED. 



Order of 

 Preference. 



DuFFERiN, Lord 





Huxley, T. H. 





M'Carthy, Justin, M.P. 





Spencer, Herbert 





Tennyson, Lord 





Tyndall, John 





