"THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE."
rTo TES EDITOR OP TRIO " SPECTATOR...] SIR,—Will the Spectator inform me what would be the differ- ence in value of "the voice of the people" as regards a Referendum, or "the voice of the people" as represented after a General Election ? From " Whitaker's Almanack " I gather that there are in England and Wales one Member of Parlia- ment representing roughly 12,000 electors, in Scotland one representing 10,000 electors, in Ireland one representing 7,000 electors. England and Wales have 495 Members repre- senting 6,000,000 electors, Scotland 72 representing 760,000 electors, Ireland 103 representing 690,000 electors. If the English, Scottish, and Irish votes were all of the same value, then Scotland should have 60 Members, Ireland 60 Members. In the present Parliament Scotland has the equivalent of 86 Members, Ireland the equivalent of 175 Members. Why should 60 English votes only be equal in value to 42 Scotch or 35 Irish votes ? Does this represent the scale of intelli- gence of the integral parts of the United Kingdom? Would not a Referendum more accurately express the feeling of the country on any question which is put to them P—I am,
Previous page
