ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1913. THE BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION.

Marlborough Express, Volume LII, Issue 285, 20 November 1918, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1913. THE BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION.

Tim unprecedented importance of the forthcoming general election at Homo is derived not only from the magnitude- of th? problems relating to the peace negotiations and the post-war reconstruction scheme, but also from the fact that the franchise was vastly widened by the .Representation of the People Act passed in January last. Ten million voters have boon' added to the register, of whom six millions are women, and far reaching '■- electoral reforms have been effected. Plural voting has been abolished, and provision made for the holding of all the elections on the same day. Previously the elections extended over three weeks, and this system enabled the j-iural voter to make the most <;f his privileges. Special provision ha.s been made for taking the votes of soldiers serving abroad, and sailors serving in the Navy; and when these come to hajid they will be indiscriminately mixed up with the votes recorded in the constituencies, so that any disclosure of sectional political views will bo obviated. "Freak" cirdidates are discouraged by the re-

quirement that each aspirant for a seat in the House must deposit £1/50' with tho returning officer in order to secure nomination. This deposit will bo forfeited by a candidate who does not secure one-eighth of the tc tal number of votes polled. A r.-la-us.e aimed at tho Sinn. Fein candidates is one which has the effect of depriving a successful candidate of both his deposit and the £400 a year paid to members of tho House unless he takes tho oath. The policy of the Sinn Fein, put into practice in .connection with recent by-elections, sKas been to flout tho British Parliament by returning candidates who rei'u&e to go near the House of Commons.

There has been much opposition to j the idea of holding an election at an early date. Technically the \v>\r v.ill • not end until peace has been fomislly*signed, and it is contended that until this stage has been reached party strife should be eschewed and na-~ tional unity preserved in it« entirety. The advocates of an election arjrue that the vast extension of the franchise lays on the Government a constitutional obligation to dissolve Parliament as soon as the now electoral register is ready for use. They declare that Parliament does not now lepresent the voice of the country, as it was .elected eight years svgo 1 y<. less than half the present number of electors. Its ordinary statutory life was five years, but this v/as extended by a succession of Acts, tire last of which carried it on- to Jf.»iuary, 1919. It lias lost more than half it* Original members, and ir.ost of the new members have been -elected-vith-out a vote being cast in their favor, the truce between the parties retulting in an arrangement not to ■ contest by-elections against one another. Writing a few weeks ago,■■the London correspondent of the Melbourne Age explained that the opposition to an early election came from the Liberal and the C'onservat.i?e camps; .but on the other side it "as 'bfing averred that the objection came mainly from those in charge of the party machines which had .not had time to adjust themselves ro- -theextension of the franchise to 10,000,----000 new voters and feared extinction.

One1 retort is that there is cr>ly one man who really wants the election, and that man is Mr Lloyd George. The correspondent wo J?ave quoted puts this viewpoint in the following way:—"Mr Lloyd George occupies a unique, but somewhat insafe position as Prime Minister without being the Head, of a ' political party. He is the. head of a Coalition Government which includes Conservatives, Liberals and Labor men, but he is kept in power by the Conservatives and by a section of the Liberals. The bulk of the Liberal members distrust Mr Lloyd George, .-aid in. spite of the party truce, they virtually ■ constitute an Opposition in Parliament - under Mr Asquith. ,It is said that Mr Lloyd George desh'es to extinguish the old party lines «nd secure his political future by creating a party pledged to follow j-.im. . . To a large extent the coming election will be a personal one; each candidate will have to say whether /ie intends to support Mr Lloyd George in his var policy. . . But, though an immediate election with the ■prosecution of the war as the uv.rin issue will prove a personal triumph for Mr Lloyd George, and, enable him to create a party pledged, to support him throughout the war, it is plain that the problem. of. peace will soon sow discord; among Mr- Lloyd George's mixed following, and'will tend to restore the old party lines.of Liberals and Conservatives.'"' As for the attitude of ihe Labor party, the cables informed us a. few days ago that an official statement has been issued alluding to the coming contest as manifestly a challenge to the Labor party, which did not desire,an election till th? war was really over.