1 MAY 1880, Page 3

'The Daily .News, in a very interesting table compiled for

its issue of Thursday, shows that out of about 2,500,000 electors who had the opportunity of voting in the general elec. tion,—i.e., in constituencies where contests occurred,—more than 2,000,000 actually voted, leaving less than half a million who abstained. Of these, over 1,140,000 voted for the Liberals, over 890,000 for the Tories, and over 58,000 for the Home-rulers. Thus the ' popular majority of Liberals over Tories was about a quarter of a million, on a total

vote of over 2,000,000,—showing that our present electoral arrangements may magnify considerably the effect of a majority, when they translate it into the number of our representatives. In 1874, however, the paradox was much greater, and in quite the other direction, as on that occasion the popular majority was on the Liberal side, while the large majority of representatives was on the side of the Tories.