On Thursday Mr. Asquith received a deputation from the Parliamentary
Committee of the Trade Union Congress, which brought him a resolution pressing for Payment of Members and of election expenses ; Universal Suffrage ; the Abolition of Plural Voting ; the Closing of Public-houses during the hours of polling, and the holding of elections on one day. In the course of his reply, he declared that payment of Members and of election expenses was part of the programme Government, and that he hoped, at any rate, to get payment of Members this Session. As to the particular figure the oracle was dumb. We have pointed out elsewhere the strong reasons, if any salary is to be paid, for making the pay adequate, and have given our opinion that to be adequate it should not be less than £600 a year. For fear of misrepre- sentation, however, let us say once more that we are not so foolish as to think that a man cannot live perfectly well in honour and independence not only upon 2300 a year but upon a very great deal less—a fact proved in millions of homes. All we contend is that the exceptional expenses to which a Member of Parliament is necessarily exposed. make it undesir- able for the State to encourage the idea that a man who has no other means can live under the conditions prevailing at Westminster, in complete independence and free from pecuniary care, on a small salary.
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