KEEPING OUT THE COMMUNISTS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sra,—I suppose l constitutionalists are profoundly perturbed by the thought that at the next General Election a split vote between Conservative and Liberal may let in not merely a moderate Labour man, but quite possibly an extreme Communist.
Surely it is not beyond the power of statesmen to find mune means of protection against this, other than a coalition, which no one wants. They must realise the danger, and unless they adopt the Motto of "myself first, my party next and let England and the Empire go hang," they must aim at combating it. It is obviously not the wish of the country. that a minority Labour vote, itself governed by a minority of vociferous Communists, should prevail owing to a lack of foresight On the part of the two great constitutional parties. But there are two great difficulties in the way. First of all the Conservatives are in power, but it isimpossible to exPeet them to stand down and let in Liberals. But, secondly, it is clear that an alternative vote would mean a sweeping majonlY for the Liberals over both the other parties. The Consen-k five would say, "If not a Conservative, anything but a Communist, therefore I will vote for a Liberal," while the Labour man would likewise say, "if not a Labour In°. anything but a die-hard, therefore'my second choice will slo
be a Liberal." - - - .-•
I cannot pretend to have .fountl more than As tentative solution, but I give it for what it is worth. In all constituenete" where there is a Labour candidate; -I would like- to see the
plain question put by means of a local referendum to all members of the Conservative and Liberal Parties, "Do you wish Smith, a Conservative, or Jones, a Liberal, to stand at the next ele, tion ? " and I should like Smith and Jones to agree loyally to support each other whichever was thus selected.
With regard to the scope of the referendum, I suggest that this should be limited. If it were open to the whole voting list, it would be an anomaly for avowed Labour supporters to decide between Conservative and Liberal candidates. It might consist of all voters subscribing, say, 6d. a year or more to their respective Associations. To these might possibly be added all those who applied for referendum papers, also any names which the local Conservatives and Liberal agents wished to have added. I would suggest that the referendum papers should be numbered to avoid duplication while pre- serving anonymity, and sent mit by post by the two local agents jointly, and that the returns should be checked and counted by these agents in the presence of the two candidates and the various officials of the local organizations, and should then be destroyed forthwith. The referendum should be carried out as long before the polling date as possible, but not until it is announced.
If some such system were satisfactorily instituted, it might be possible to have a similar referendum on Labour candidates also. If the rank and file of the Labour Party were asked,
Would you sooner have a siund, sane, law-abiding working man Constitutionalist as your representative, or a red-hot Communist ? " the most undesirable element in British politics would disappear f. r ever. But this would have to conic from the Labour Pa_ty's own wisdom.—! am, Sir, &c.,
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