The House of Commons on .Wednesday adopted by 209 votes
to 171 an amendment to the Franchise Bill disqualifying the con- scientious objector who has been exempted from service or who, having been enlisted, has been punished for refusal to obey orders. Lord Hugh Cecil made an able and courageous speech against the amendment, mainly on the ground that "it appears to enforce the law of the State as superior to the moral law." But Mr. Cham- berlain gave the true answer to this argument when he said that the vote was a privilege and a trust, to which the State had a right to attach conditions. We have no sympathy with the persecution of the genuine conscientious objectors, who axe probably a very small minority of those who masquerade under the title. But such men cannot at the same time refuse to do their duty as citizens and yet expect to enjoy all the privileges of citizenship.
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