LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
AN APPEAL TO UNIONISTS.
[TO THE EDITOR or THE "SPECTATOR"] 3ra,—It will be with great satisfaction that all Unionists, and not a few so-called Home-rulers, in the United Kingdom -will read the powerful letter signed "A. V. D." in the -Spectator of September 17th in support of the policy so -strongly, ably, and consistently advocated by the Spectator .that the distribution of seats in the United Kingdom should .43e reformed on more equitable principles by the present Parliament. It is a policy to which the Government and the Unionist party are pledged; if the Government fail to carry -coat this policy it will be little short of a political crime, having
regard to the justice of the case and the exceptional powers granted to this Government at the last General Election ; it is an act of legislation due to the Unionists of Ireland, who have made large sacrifices and acquiesced in much adverse legislation in order to support the Union; but more even it is of absolute necessity from an Imperial point of view. It cannot be tolerated that foreign and colonial policy should be at the mercy of an artificially independent party pledged to thwart Imperial administration by hostile criticism and by impeding the grant of necessary supplies in the House of Commons.
But it is of absolute necessity to seize the opportune moment. Few remember that this Parliament has not more than two or three Sessions of existence, nor do they realise the necessity of dissolution immediately following redistribu- tion where so large a number of seats, twenty Irish and three Welsh, have to be transferred to other portions of the United Kingdom. It is possible that objections may be raised and difficulties imagined ; it may be objected that it may be difficult to select which seats in Ireland are to be retained and which suppressed. That has already been provided for in the second schedule to Mr. Gladstone's last Home-rule Bill, which specified the constituencies in Ireland he proposed should be represented in the Imperial Parliament. Some may object that redistribution would involve an entire recasting of the present system, and necessitate equal electoral districts irrespective of county and borough boundaries, but the number to be transferred is so small relative to the whole total of the Members of the House of Commons that it would be easy to allot that number of seats among the constituencies in the manufacturing districts and metropolitan counties and boroughs.
Again, as " A. V. D." points out, a demand will very pro- bably be made for " One man, one vote" whenever" One vote, one value" is proposed. This will have to be dealt with at the time, and it is possible that it will be found to be a demand that can be fairly and safely conceded. One further objection may be that among the conditions of the Act of Union the representation of Ireland was fixed at one hundred and three, and that it would be a breach of faith to vary it ; but the alteration in the proportion of population would alone be an answer, even if the disestablishment of the Church and equalisation of financial liabilities were not sufficient. There should also be one provision inserted in any Bill, the abolition of the illiterate vote. The gross abuse in Ireland of this species of vote is so flagrant, and the number who make use of it, as compared with England and Scotland, is so out of proportion, that it is unnecessary to dwell upon the matter, but with all the present facilities of elementary education it is impossible that this vote can be maintained or defended. It is absurd to contend that at the present day there can be any man so illiterate as to be unable to distinguish names on a ballot-paper printed in clear type.
The real question, then, now is during which of the next two Sessions this measure should be introduced, always remembering the consequent dissolution of Parliament ; when- ever it is introduced it is essential that it should be the one great measure of the Session, to be carried through by all the influence and power of the present Government majority. Saving the necessary legislation required for the military services, no other legislative measures, whether they daily or not with public health, should be proposed.
There is, I think, only one portion of your correspondent "A. V. D.'s " letter to which exception may be taken. He expresses some hesitation or doubt as to the Irish Local Government Act of the last Session. I only can feel that it was an act of the highest policy to assimilate the local administration of Ireland to that of England and Scotland; and though the measure is faulty in some of its details and will require further improvement, I am sanguine from experi- ence of over twenty-two years as a chairman of a local body that in the greater number of counties in Ireland local government will be administered with as great a regard for efficiency and economy as in the sister countries. It is possible that in one or two counties in the West, where unrest has hitherto been the normal condition, there may be abuses ; but time and self-interest will, I think, correct this state of things. I have little fear of the empty threats of thirty-two little anti-English Parliaments indulged in by some few Irish agitators; and I feel sure that in time Irish- men of all classes and creeds will recognise the honest endeavours of the Unionist party to equalise all over the three kingdoms civic rights, responsibilities, and liabilities.— I am, Sir, Scc ,
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