But our criticism of Lord Robert's manifesto must be wider
than this. We said that the manifesto was admirable as a moral survey. That is what it is. It is not sufficiently definite. What Lord Robert Cecil really wants is that the Will of the Majority should prevail, for he is convinced (as we are) that the majority agree with his general principles. How are we to secure that the Will of the Majority shall always prevail ? It seems to us that there is one way above all others. That is to make the Voice of the People in regular practice, as it is in theory, the ultimate Court of Appeal. This could easily be done by the introduction of the Poll of the People, or Referendum. The people, when referred to in cases of doubt, would answer with a simple " yes " or " no " the question whether they did or did not want a particular Bill which had passed through all its stages. To that decision everyone ought to bow, as we certainly should bow. If we thought the decision wrong we should try to change it by persuasion. But at least under the Poll of the People there would never be any danger, as there is now, of the tail wagging the dog.
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