The General Election held last Saturday was the dullest within
living memory. The newspapers made a gallant effort to pretend that the country was deeply stirred by the first contests under universal suffrage, but in the average constituency there was no sign of political excitement. For lack of speakers, few election meet- ings were held ; election posters were rarely to be seen, because candidates' expenses are severely restricted ; there was little can- vassing, and voters had to betake themselves to the poll instead of being conveyed in the rich man's car or carriage. Mr. Weller, senior, who knew something about taking voters to the poll— or the ditch—would have shaken his head over the departed glories of elections, if he could have revisited us last Saturday. The women are said to have voted in large numbers ; the sailors' and soldiers' voting-papers have begun to arrive.
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