On Monday the House of Lords discussed the question whether
women should, or should not, be allowed to sit on the newly constituted London municipalities. The Govern- ment left the matter open, and the House witnessed the curious spectacle of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor speaking on opposite sides. Lord Salisbury was strongly in favour of women being allowed to sit, and denied that
giving them the right was hastening their admission to Parliament. The Bill merely gave women that right of access to the new Town Councils which they possessed in the old Vestries. To turn them out without good reason was a very violent step. The new bodies, urged Lord Salisbury, would have a great deal to do with the housing of the working classes, and this was eminently a subject on which women could do good work.
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