25 NOVEMBER 1916, Page 3

Our desire to render democracy complete through Manhood Suffrage is

enforced by the application of Compulsory Service. To make a man fight for the State and not give him his proper and just share in the control of that State would be a gross injustice. We intend, therefore, to do all we can to support Manhood Suffrage, provided that it is accompanied by a proper redistribution scheme, and by a scheme for submitting laws of the first importance to the veto of the people as a whole. We are not frightened by the big numbers of the electorate, for it is notorious that big constituencies are less easily manipulated by the professional politician than small ones. We confess, however, that we are perturbed by the notion of women voters being in so considerable a majority as they probably would be if we had both Manhood and Womanhood Suffrage. That is unquestionably one of the problems which will have to be very carefully considered if there is a real and not merely a sectional demand for the suffrage. Happily, the responsibility for finding a solution does not rest with the opponents of the suffrage, but with those who advocate it.