Our own feeling is that in the circumstances the decision
of the House was quite right. In the abstract we have never been favourable to Woman Suffrage, for reasons—not intellectual reasons—which we have often stated. But we are faced now by a strong popular desire to give women the vote which cannot possibly be mistaken. To resist such a rush of feeling is simply to want to carry on the government of the country in circumstances of per- petual dissatisfaction and unrest. The time has come to yield as the Duke of Wellington yielded on the great Reform Bill. Britannia locate est. The next point is that if this change be admitted, it should not be a mean and grudging ohange that will give rise to grievances scarcely less acute than the old grievance itself. Finally, we agree with Sir F. E. Smith's argument that there is an implied bargain in the Reform Bill. The balance should not be upset. Those who support Woman Suffrage strongly on principle must remember that there are many persons who support Proportional Representation just as strongly on principle. Let them not provoke reprisals. Let the minimum of Proportional Repre- sentation proposed by the Speaker's Conference be tried as an experiment.
Previous page
