PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."]
Srs,—The undersigned, belonging to very different parties, or to no party, in politics, are united in the conviction that our national interests demand a Parliament justly representing the broad divisions of political opinion in proportion to their strength in the country, and that wo can only make certain of such a Parliament by adopting the system of election called proportional representation. Never was that reform so urgent as it is to-day, when there are many who challenge the moral right of Parliaments (elected as ours is at present) to speak for the people. The Proportional Representation Society has been working for sixteen years, and has done much to prepare the mind of the country. It has seen the reform introduced for all local government elections in Ireland; for the two Irish Parliaments; for Education Authorities in Scotland; for University representation in the Imperial Parliament, and for an ever-growing number of Parliaments in the Dominions and in foreign countries.
The work of the Society has been carried on with great economy, and has been wonderfully effective considering its small staff and limited resources. Its normal annual income has been about £2,000. In 1920, and again during the current year, to meet the expansion of work and the great rise of prices, this was increased by special gifts to £4,000. A repeti- tion of these donations cannot be expected, while on the other hand an increase in the work of the Society is essential. The opportunity of getting P.R. adopted in 1918 was lost because the country had not been educated to understand it. More lectures, meetings and model elections, and more literature, are needed if that is not to happen again. It is therefore pro- posed to raise by donations (not annual subscriptions) a special fund of £4,000 to enable the work to be carried on with vigour between now and the end of next year. This fund we very heartily commend to the generous support of all who realize how vital it is that our next Parliament should be so elected as to make sure that it will really represent the country. Donations should be sent to the President of the Society, The lit. Hon. Earl Grey, 82 Victoria Street, S.W. 1.—We are, Sir, Se.,
L. S. AMERY; H. H. ASQUITH; F. G. BANBURY; ARNOLD BENNETT; BIREENHEA.D; ALUIGAR.ET G. BONDFIELD; BURNHAM; THOMAS BURT; ROBERT CECIL; CHAPLIN; Jon?: CLIFFORD; J. R. CLYNES; H. A. L. FISHER; ARTHUR. HENDERSON; G. R. LANE-FOX; DONALD MACLEAN; ALFRED MOND; ELEANOR F. RATHBONE; C. P. SCOTT; SELBORNE; J. ST. LOE STRACHEY; H. G. WELLS.
Previous page
