Mr. Fawcett made a strong speech at Hackney on Monday
in favour of proportional representation and women's franchise, while deprecating any attempt at present to alter the Con- stitutional position of the House of Lords. What he said on the subject of proportional representation seems to us theoreti- cally quite unassailable ; but no scheme that we have ever seen will make it pleasant to any Member to represent avowedly the minority of the constituency for which he sits; and our own belief is, that with a careful subdivision of electoral districts and single seats for each district, a far more satisfactory repre- sentation of the minorities of the country would be attained than by any of the plans now in existence or proposed for our acceptance. Indeed, when subdivision is to take place, why two Members should be assigned to each subdivision, instead of one to each moiety, seems to us simply unintelligible. As the historical unity is given up, why not give it up frankly and make the best sub-divisions possible.
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