"Majority" Results in United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom—where all the systems alluded to above, except the cumulative vote, have been or are wholly or partially in operation in the election of the Imperial Parliament—some curious and astounding results have come about, showing how far the accepted principle of the will of the majority ruling the country has been violated, to the great detriment of good Home Government and of consistent finality in Imperial foreign policy.

The comparison of returns regarding the votes recorded at the English elections in the years 1874, 1880, and 1886 is most interesting. In 1874 the Tories came into power with a majority of 50 members in the House, and yet that party, by the votes cast for its members, polled 200,000 votes less than their opponents: the numbers being 1,200,000 for the Tories, as against 1,400,000 votes cast for their opponents who remained in opposition. In 1880 Anti-Conservatives elected polled 1,800,000 for 414 seats, as against 1,420,000 received by the Conservatives returned for 236 seats—a majority of 178 seats for 380,000 votes, when in reality the seats, dividing the votes cast for successful candidates on either side of the House by the number of seats, ought to have been, if votes were of equal value, 370 for the Liberals and 270 for their opponents. In 1874, therefore, by this rule, the Liberals had 56 members too few, while in 1880 they had 43 too many. The difference of 99 seats in the two elections was very great, causing the vote of the page 10 majority to be put aside as a matter of little importance; and, by a change in the ministry, caused a complete reversal of the foreign and domestic policy of the Empire. This result was mainly caused by the use of a "majority vote" exercised in single electorates. As an example of the working out of this system of most unequal representation: If a line be drawn across England from Lincolnshire to Devonshire, there were on the southeast side 99 county seats at the election of 1880. In these constituencies the Liberals polled 96,000 votes, as against 116,000 by the Conservatives. This voting, according to the rule of dividing the number of votes by the number of seats, should have given the return of 40 Liberals, as against 59 Conservatives. There were actually returned but 15 Liberals with 84 Tories, and of these 15 Liberal seats 5 were secured by the fact of there being that number of three-cornered constituencies.

Turning to the last election, 1886: Followers of Mr. Gladstone to the number of 196 were elected members, getting 1,347,983 votes. 85 Home-Rulers, obtaining 99,669 votes, were elected. 1,106,651 votes returned 316 Conservatives; 417,456 votes only secured the election of 73 members of the new party of "Liberal Unionists." In all 2,971,759 votes were cast. The Conservatives and Unionists combined only polled about 5 per cent, more than Mr. Gladstone's following, and yet the former have a majority of 20 per cent, of the whole House. Under the rule before applied the proper composition of the present House would be: Gladstonians, who obtained 196 seats, should have had 304—108 more; Tories, who obtained 316 seats, should have had but 249—67 less; Unionists, who got 73, should have 94—21 more; and Home-Rulers, who got 85 seats, would have had to add another grievance to their stock, for they would be reduced to the small band of 22 members.

These facts afford food for reflection as to how far the whole course of Imperial politics would have altered if the representation of the people, in proportion to their numbers, had been the rule in the Old Country, instead of being merely a profession. Twenty-two Home Rulers in the British Parliament could never have appeared to the world the powerful exponents of an almost unanimous Irish public demand for autonomy which the present minority-elected phalanx of 85 determined patriotic men appear. Their numbers thus reduced, it is very doubtful if the veteran Gladstone could have been brought to the recognition of the absorbing importance of the demand for Irish Home Rule being immediately dealt with to the complete blockage of almost all other Imperial concerns. Results equally abnormal have recently occurred in Belgium and Switzerland, resulting, in both cases, in the power of Government passing into the hands of the political party which really comprised the smallest number of voters in the whole country, and in one, at least, of the instances very nearly ending in a revolution.