The March of Democracy

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 74, 24 March 1923, Page 5

The March of Democracy

REVIEW OF BRITISH FRANCHISE Socialist Party's Growth

i (Copyright). 'Mi.i ■ ...-, (Received 8.5 aim.): London, * March 21. Mr Lloyd George continuing the series of articles, says:— i Democracy in the sense of the 'Government of a great State by absolute and unfettered authority of the majority of its citizens of ail ranks and conditions is a modern experiment. How many realise that Britain became a democracy for the fivsit time in 19H7. Until then, ai majority of the adult population had no voice in making or administering the law 8 that ruled their lives. The United States, France, and Italy adopted universal suffrage for many a year;,so have, the British Dominions ; but the pioneer of re-' preventative institutions, until recently shvank from the experiment 6f adult- suffrage*. Before; the Reform ! Act; of 1832, the ! total electorate of this country was only three per cent. of the populatioh'.fcThe distribution " of power among this small - percent- ' age, was so arranged that no more than nine per cent, was effective. A i generation of turmoil almost cul~ mutating in revolution forced through a measure increasing the electorates to 4.5 per cent., but to call this percentage a democracy was ridiculous. ■•„■> Another generation of growing agitation ensued. Tins also ended in violence. Then Disraeli., one of the boldest and most venturesome of British statesmen, doubled the electorate. Distfaeli'a ajuidaedty startled his aristocratio supporters and shocked many of Bob had alreadyii'fore.tolcj the. that would. (; Gladstone's/ nwjft., cautions'l P9%3ps>}s/p &eyen . y 6a - r^ ( later saw of the s Jjffgt i Tory to Parliament sincp 18.41. .... r .

attached.:to any political party. It is free and floating about without any. anchor or rudder, ready to be towed by the first party that succeeds in roping it.

Millions of the new electors are tooi indifferent or too undecided to take u'.des at the polling booths In the election in January, 1910, ninety-two per cent, of the voters polled, and iln 1918 sixty-four per cent. This ni\ight be explained by the inevitable political party which follows a war. The old party organisation had fallen into complete disrepair, hence the failure to linduce six million new voters to take sufficient in their new privileges to exercise them. The next four years was a period "of'''growing„ political, activity.,. ' T1il» ne\vr party was especially energetic. The chief organ/iser was Mr Arthur Henderson, one of the most gifted party' organisers of this generation, and. his achievement is an outstanding feature in the political organisation of this country... The old party also had time to ; repair its machinery. ....., The only party with' no organisation worth speaking about was the National Li'oerals. The others were ready for the struggle; nevertheless, noarly five million voters were not sufficiently interested to record their votes. , How does the record compare with the democracy iln other lands? France is no better j on the whole, I understand, it is worse. The vot?, 3hg ffi fi *he"UfflN&d"fctate'B nu'etual&s, 'arnV'tabSs' [not differ from Britain/' f Tlie"''k^hia^r*polled, e } H c'eht. 'lafet! election.' Italy was mucM' 'lowe'i 1 ; n hut one day an will, ■arise which, will ..wla&e* Up 'the "most. lethargic. " I '''"''', **"'.., "". tf ". What will it be?. What view will they take when it comes? They may rally to defend their property menaced by' rapacious creeds. They may rush to the protection of hom.es M'VBM? wealth. Even those who have already voted are liable to sudden desertion and changes or opinion. Witness the Witeham, Willesden, and Edgehill bye-elections. Among the many, disquieting, factors there is one which ought to bo dealt with before another election." Under the present system a minority of electors' may,;ui3r|> over the fortunes of the kingdom. 'Fbr' fully five years America has •br3tight' ; its vast electorate under perfect discipline, but 'through 11 bvuch tribulation, including ; tfte fuWfijces,.ojf a.terrible civil,,war, Italy was unpolled ;\to (correct the working of the democratic institutions by a display of force.

So muoh for the prophecies" of .' men who always fear aftil must flow from justice.

! Fifteen years after Disraeli's measures, Gladstone added another seven per cent, to the electorate. I Those proposals were so vehemenfc- ' ly contested that they nearly precipitated- .a constitutionalfirst magnitude. • Ultimately, they were carried, and, there the Franchise remained until the. war. The electorate which accepted the GerI man challenge .in 1914, and was | therefore responsible for involving the country . in, the most costly and most sanguinary war it ever waged, represented one-sixth of the tiou, and abp.ut a third of the adults. The Conscription Adj converted this country;to! the linjusfjce of thisLstate o,f, thingsj ! Millions. men were forced to rjsk k their for a'policy'' which, ,they' pan not share ''in raMioning. .Millions of wo&'en werfe fov-'' ced to bear anxieties' and tortures worse than death in the pursuit of the same policy; yet no woman was i alloWfed to express any opinion in the selection of their rulers. It was felt to bo so unjust that in the exaltation of the war which lifted men into a higher plane of equity, this obvious wrong was redressed. Hence the greatest enactment of all enfranchisement acts, that of 1917, for the first time converted the British system of government iinta a democracy. How Has It Worked? It is too early to speak of; its rer sults.. You will find from the result of tlje recent election that more than half. of the newi electorate was not

Britain may mobifise and drill its electoral farces Wltn less trouble, but she has a Socialist Party, which has grown by millions within less than a decade, and is still growing.

Its most eloquent .member ia proposing in the House of Commons a solemn measure for the abolition of private property, Deputies chosen by four and a-quarter millions, ..will, vote for it, and if four years hence they add, another million <and a-half to their poll, they be in a position to- place that motion on the Statute Book.