15 JANUARY 1876, Page 3

One of the many difficulties which will beset any attempt

to elect the House of Commons by equal electoral districts is the size of London. There is no principle, except the historic one, on which London can be refused a representation exceeding that of Scotland. She pays far more Income-tax—nearly one-third, indeed, of the whole Income-tax of England—and her population is slightly greater. According to the quinquennial report of the Registrar. General, it is now 3,489,428, or, if we include the Outer Ring, 4,286,607, the former number even being greater than that of the nineteen greatest provincial towns, which, though inade- quately represented, still return twice as many Members as the metropolis. The best proof that London is not fit for her natural place in the Empire, is that she endures the preposterous unfair- ness to which she is subjected in the matter of representation without a murmur.