That labour is, unfortunately for me,
at present in my hands, and I am sure you will agree with me that
it should not be divided. You mean probably that you are proud of
your House of Commons,--and that you are so because it speaks with
the voice of the people. The voice of the people, in order that it
may be heard without unjust preponderance on this side or on that,
requires much manipulation. That manipulation has in latter years
been effected by your Reform bills of which during the last half
century there have in fact been four or five,--the latter in favour
of the ballot having been perhaps the greatest. There have been
bills for purity of elections, very necessary; bills for creating
constituencies, bills for abolishing them, bills for dividing them,
bills for extending the suffrage, and bills, if I am not mistaken,
for curtailing it. And what has been the result? How many men are
there in this room who know the respective nature of their votes?
And is there a single woman who knows the political worth of her
husband's vote? Passing the other day from the Bank of this great
metropolis to its suburb called Brentford, journeying as I did the
whole way through continuous rows of houses, I found myself at
first in a very ancient borough returning four members,--double the
usual number,--not because of its population but because it has
always been so.
Pages:
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789