On Tuesday Mr. Asquith received in his room at the
House of Commons a large deputation, representative of all sides
in politics, organised by the Proportional Representation Association, and introduced by Lord Courtney of Penwith. The deputation, in effect, asked Mr. Asquith to grant an inquiry as to whether the next change in our eleotoral system ought not to be accompanied by some system of proportional representation. As Lord Courtney and other speakers pointed out, the object of the advocates of proportional representa- tion is not to give any position of privilege to minorities, but rather to see that the House of Commons is the true microcosm of the nation, and reflects in true proportions the various sections of opinion which divide the people. Under our present system of single-Member constituencies we are apt to get one of two evils. Either a minority of the voters return a majority of the representatives, or else, as happened at the last two General Elections, a comparatively small majority of voters are represented by an immensely inflated majority in the House of Commons. Under a system of proportional repre- sentation both majorities and minorities would get their fair share of electoral power, and thus the House of Commons would be a far more accurate reflection of the nation. The swings of the pendulum would be much less violent, and the party caucuses would have less power, though there need not be, and would not be, any destruction of the party system. Speaking generally, there would be greater stability in our representative system.
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