3 JULY 1926, Page 7

In the House of Lords on Thursday, June 24th, there

was a large attendance to debate Lord Astor's Bill which would permit peeresses in their own right to sit in Parliament. Lord Cecil stated well and clearly the obvious justification for the proposal. He pointed out that the Bill did not pretend to reform the Lords or to confer a .privilege on the peeresses, but merely put peeresses in their own right on the same political footing as other women. Everybody agreed that the admission of women would be essential in a reformed House of Lords, so why should peeresses in their own right wait any longer ? Justice could be done to them without prejudicing any scheme of reform. Besides, the present House of Lords had just, those functions of advice in which women could usefully share. .