1 FEBRUARY 1902, Page 3

.Mr. Balfour's words . pledging , the Government may be quoted

verbatim. "Allow me to say in conclusion," saidlir. Balfour, "that I do .very cordially agree with what I take to be his [Kr. Kimber's] main thesis,—namely, that the state of trar representation is now becoming so anomalous and so eccen- tric, so widely different from what it would be were numbers alone to be considered, that it is impossible for this House iadefinitely to postpone the consideration of the question. For my own part, I certainly express the very confident hope that this Parliament will not come to an end before the House has had some opportunity of considering this very important

question in a practical spirit I shall certainly regret if we have not an opportunity before many Sessions are past of considering, not as an abstract Resolution, but with some definite proposals before us, the method of dealing with the ever-growing anomalies of which my hon, friend has so long complained."