On Thursday the House was occupied with a discursive debate
on the Colonial Estimates, poorly conducted by the Opposition, who seem at present to have as little grasp of Imperial as of domestic policy. An excellent maiden speech was made, however, by Mr. A. E. W. Mason, who spoke with moderation and discretion, and showed that a title sense of the responsibilities of Empire may be looked for among the Left- Centre section of the Liberal Party. Mr. Winston Churehill's speech was one of the best he has made, and was free from the rhetorical infelicities that have marred certain of his recent utterances. We note with special satisfaction that Mr. Churchill declared that the principle of " One vote one value" was in itself "an orthodox and unimpeachable prin. ciple of democracy," and that if the attempt were made to discriminate between man and man because one man had more .children and lived in the country, it would be reasonable to discriminate because another man had, more brains or more money and lived in the town. The only safe rule was that voting power, as far as possible, should be evenly distributed. In the Transvaal the principle of "One vote one value" could only be operative upon a basis of voters.
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