19 AUGUST 1916, Page 3

We recognise that the promises extracted from Mr. Asquith, and

the ruling of the Speaker that the Special Register Bill may be amended so as to enfranchise new classes if instructions to that effect are previously carried, opens the way for something like a Reform Bill after the recess. All we can say on this prospect is that we hope the good sense of the nation will shrink from arousing the passions of 1832 and 1867 while we are at war. To give the vote at once to a fighting man just because he is a fighting man is most attractive. But if you assert the principle of "one gun one vote" you open the doors to all that long and restless queue of people who are waiting to rush in. Most of them can say that they have done something useful in the war, and logic will be powerless to answer them.