THE MINORITY VOTE.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.1
Sra,—The only plan to secure the representation of Minorities is the simple one of having one Member to each constituency. The west end of Dundee would be sure to return a different type of Member from the eastern division of the town. So in Perthshire. The western division would probably return a Conservative, the eastern certainly a staunch Liberal. With these constituencies I am best acquainted, but I feel sure that other large constituencies would have the same experience. Residence alone should qualify for a county vote; any other qualification makes the manufacture of faggot votes certain.
I see a difficulty in regard to Ireland not named in Lord Hartington's speech of warning. I do not think Scottish Liberals are afraid of the extension of the suffrage in Ireland. We expect Mr. Parnell's influence to be lessened, and his diffi- culties to be increased, when he has a larger following, and especially entirely new constituencies with conflicting interests, to manage. What we want to know is whether, if a clear majority of Irish representatives desire a certain policy, Mr. Chamberlain is first of all to move heaven and earth to secure a true representa- tion of Ireland, and then the moment he has secured it, to use the Scotch and English majority to outvote Ireland, and so condemn Irishmen to a hopeless and eternal minority. I have another reason for this question. I feel certain that the vast majority of Gladstonian Liberals in Scotland are in favour of immediate Disestablishment. I am sure that the Spectator is not aware of the strength of this feeling. Our loyalty to Mr. Gladstone, and the supreme issues of foreign policy, at the last election have caused us to refrain from urging this question. The existence of a Liberal Government is impossible, without the solid Scotch vote. That vote never will be given, unless indeed some national crisis again
demands that we shall abstain from all division of the party Now, if the great majority in Scotland are for Disestablish- ment, are we to be represented, and are our wishes to be given effect to ; or is Mr. Chamberlain to permit us to express fur- selves, and then quietly use the English majority to postpone indefinitely the measure we deem of most consequence P If so, I venture to predict that our allegiance to the Liberal party will not stand this strain, especially in the absence of Mr. Glad-
[For what purpose can the vote of the great majority of the people of the United Kingdom be used better, than to outvote a minority, however local and however united, on such a question as the disintegration of that kingdom P We should not allow Wales, nor Cornwall, nor even the Orkneys and Shetlands, to break up the United Kingdom. Nor ought we to let Ireland do so, unless we really believed it to be for the advantage of the whole kingdom, which we do not believe.—En. Spectator.]
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