The Press Monday, November 3, 1924. Voting Methods.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18220, 3 November 1924, Page 8

The Press Monday, November 3, 1924. Voting Methods.

It was inevitable that the Libera! Press in Britain should seek to comfort themselves, in the disaster that has befallen the Liberal P:;rty. by denouncing the existing method of voting and demanding "reform." It is perfectly true that if the Conservative Party, which polled 7.848.000 votes out of a total 1 of about 16 i millions, received seats in strict proportion to the votes given to its candidates it would have, not more than 400 seats in the House, but rather less than 300 (actually about 290). But nobody has ever explained why it is either necessary or desirable that the strength of parties in Parliament should be strictly proportional to their strength as measured by the actual votes recorded for them at the polls. The advocates of Proportional Representation base their case upon the assumption that this is necessary, but it is an assumption, and nothing more, and an assumption, moreover, which many considerations invalidate. These advocates of electoral "reform" assume that a Parliament elected by the P.R. system of voting- would be a "mirror, of the nation," and that this kind of "mirror" would serve the national interest better than a Parliament elected by the present method of voting. If it is desirable that Parliament should eonsist of a number of minority groups, making government impossible except through intrigue and bargaining amongst the groups; if the will of the nation can best' be made effective by creating conditions which I would necessitate that the intriguing groups should constantly act without the least reference to any mandate they may have received from those who elected them—then P.R. might be a very excellent thing. But most people will deny the fundamental assumptions made on behalf of P.R. What is the plain teaching of the election just held? Even the most ardent supporter of P.R. will admit that the nation was emphatically opposed to Socialism and was chiefly concerned to express its opposition, and that nothing else worth mentioning was in the minds of the electors. The actual result, a very decided majority against Socialism, putting iu office a party which gained 7~> per cent, of the non-Socialist votes and which can give effect to the national decision, is justification enough for the "unreformed" voting system. Labour [ cannot complain of tho result, for it cannot make much difference to ! Labour's effect in politics whether its representatives in the House number 150 or 200. The complaints come from the Liberals, who claim that they are entitled to over 100 scats, instead of the 40 they have secured. But the voting shows that the nation has begun to feel that tho Liberal Party has no function in politics nowadays. It could not obtain the support of even one voter in five, and this fact, considered in the light of the past history of the Party and of the conditions of presentday political thought, may even be regarded as an argument against P.R., which would misrepresent and obstruct the natural development of political opinion.