31 JANUARY 1931, Page 20

THE UNIVERSITY FRANCHISE [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —In

the interesting article on " The University Fran- chise " in last week's Spectator, I venture to think that there is one point which you and the Burgesses of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in their memorandum htive over- looked. The University franchise at Oxford and Cambridge is granted to graduates who have : (a) taken the degree of Master of Arts, and (b) kept their names on the books of their college. Both these conditions require only the payment of fees, and are no guarantee of any higher intellectual equipment than that possessed by many persons who have not had the advantages of education at either of these two older Universi- ties.

Many graduates are not able to afford to pay the necessary fees, and it therefore seems to me that the plural voting of the present system is in part based, to however small an extent, on a property qualification, and should be Withdrawn unless you believe in plural voting in itself. The proper place for such eminent persons as in the past have graced the roll of University Burgesses would appear to be in a reformed Upper Chamber where they would not have to face either " the wear and tear of the usual electoral campaign," or that of the