The Voters' Primer
IT seems captious to find any fault with this very interesting and superlatively useful book. Nevertheless we cannot help saying that it is not well named. It is not women voters especially who lack and desire the mass of marvellously well-chosen information herein contained. Arc the great majority of male voters accurately familiar with the structure of government here and in the colonies ? Do they even approximately and in general know how the machinery works ? How often do we hear questions of taxation dis- cussed without the most elementary knowledge of the facts, even such questions of universal interest as who pays income tax and who pays none, who pays 4s. 6d. in the £ and who pays just upon 12s. An hour with this book will give any intelligent reader what we may call " a clear notion " about all these matters.
The real facts concerning the increase of wages, modified as they are by the newest estimate of the increase in prices, are set forth as shortly as possible. To many people it will be a surprise to learn .that income tax is being paid by not more than two and a quarter million out of some twenty- eight million electors and surtax by only ninety-five thousand persons.
Not all of us can read for ourselves in the Oxford Dictionary the best accredited explanation of the word Capital. The Duchess of Atholl quotes it as follows : " Capital is the accumulated wealth of an individual, company, or community, used as a fund for carrying on fresh produc- tion." Her discourse upon this text could not but interest any enquirer whatever his philosophical and political leanings, for with admirable skill while never hiding her own convictions she avoids the twin temptations of fact-fitting and contro- versial bitterness. This is especially true in the chapters which deal with companionate marriage, divorce, and birth- control. Those on the orthodox side will find their convictions stated in a clear, moderate, and arguable form ; while those of the contrary part will not be put off the book by the minatory tone so often adopted by people who cannot bear contradiction upon these burning subjects.
In short, the book is a compendium of information for the honest voter who refuses to vote in ignorance, believing that his right to an opinion depends entirely upon how he came by it.
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