LTO THE EDITOR OP THY " SPUTA:TWO]
SIR,—In an editorial note to a letter on " The Negative Vote," you say, "No doubt, minorities are over-represented now. In that we heartily agree." Now, I cannot see how you come to agree with this conclusion. A study of the returns of the last general election appears to me to prove that the Conservative minority at least is under-represented.
Take England and Wales. In 227 constituencies, returning 368 Members, the total vote, in round numbers, was 1,522,000 I arrive at that by adding together the highest Liberal and the highest Conservative vote in each case, and making a grand
ttotal of the whole,—perhaps a rough method. Of this 1,522,000, 823,000 were Liberal and 699,000 were Conservative votes. - Therefore, of every 100 votes, 53 were Liberal, and 47 Conserva- ifie. Now, if each side were represented in proportion to their voting strength, the Liberals should have 53 per cent. of the 368 Members, and the Conservatives 47 per cent. But what was the fact ? 230, or 62 per cent., of the Members returned were Liberal, and only 138, or 38 per cent., were Conservatives. —I am, Sir, &c., [We never said that any particular minority was over-repre- sented ; we said minorities in general were, whether Liberal, or Conservative, or Radical, or nondescript, and that is a matter of mathematical demonstration when, as Mr. Chamberlain says, six millions and a quarter have only just as many representatives as a quarter of a million. But there is nothing to prove, as yet, which party is most misrepresented.—En. Spectator.]
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