13 OCTOBER 1906, Page 3

Mr. Winston Churchill, speaking at Glasgow on Thursday night, carried

on the war begun by the Master of Elibank against that section of the Labour Members—a small minority of them, be declared—who were animated by a purposeless and reckless hostility to Liberalism. The proper and in- dispensable remedy was the institution of a second ballot, and he had every reason to hope that that reform would be effected before Parliament had completed its work. We are exceedingly glad to hear this announcement, as we feel very strongly that if the group system is to be developed, we must take care that those who are elected for a constituency repre- sent a majority of the voters. At the same time, we feel bound to warn the Liberal Party that this electoral measure, like that dealing with plural voting, will not be, and ought not to be, assented to by the House of Lords unless it is accom- panied by the still more urgent and more essentially democratic reform involved in the carrying out of the principle of " Ono vote one value," the reduction of the monstrously unjust over- representation of Ireland, and the remedying of the present gross under-representation of England. The Liberal Party cannot be allowed to have only that portion of electoral reform which they think useful to themselves, and to leave untouched a huge injustice and anomaly which helps them politically and is injurious to their opponents.