THE PERPLEXED VOTER
SIR, May I make the correspondence on this subject an excuse for returning to the charge? Mr. Trevelyan truly says that the issue at the next election will be Social:au But it ought not to be, and, under a logical system, would not be. If distrust and dislike of our present masters continue to grow, doubtless we shall soon have a Conservative Government which will misrepresent national opinion as grossly, almost, as the Socialist Government misrepresents it now. By proportional repre- sentation we should obtain—indeed we should at this moment enjoy—a Government of the centre comparable with that French Government, the fruit of proportional representation, which, having saved France from dictatorship, is beginning to make her prosperous.
The approved reply to my argument is that in this country proportional representation will not work. says so ? People who like tags and catchwords. Everywhere I meet atives—and Conservative Mem- bers of Parliament amongst them—who are coming to a different opinion. To be sure, most Socialists seem to find distressing the thought of sharing power, and perhaps still more so the thought of sharing places. But Liberals, or rather the Liberal bosses, are most to blame. They have everything to gain by fair representation. And I am persuaded they could have it by adopting the well-tried methods of the Suffragists. Let them announce that they will oppose by all means whatever government happens to be in power until P.R. is conceded. Only they must realise that opposing the Government means co-operating with the Opposition. This, apparently, is what our bosses cannot stomach. Are they too
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