El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-16
English Suffrage a Contest
Between Land Owners and People
M.-THE BRITISH CRISIS.

= ONION, ENG, July 16.-if, five
years ago, the question who
- rules Great Britain?" had been
asked, anybody and everybody would
have replied THE people, through the
machinery of political parties oper-
ating in Parliament" But the events
of the past five years, eliminating in
the constitutional crisis precipitated
last November by the rejection of the
budget in the house of lords, have
proved that this question is not to be
answered so easily. If the people rule,
why is it that a government twice vic
torious at the polls is thwarted in its
efforts to enact legislation by an ir-
responsible and unchanging house of
lords? If the people rule, why is 1t
that government twice entrusted with
power from the people is compelled 10
ask the king for power to force the
upper house of parliament to obey the
popular mandate?
AS a matter of fact the people do
not rule in Great Britain. The British
government is not a government of par
ties, but, in the last analysis, is gov
eminent of one party, the party OF
aristocracy and privilege. The king Is
more than a mere ornamental figure
head. In a crisis such as this, the king
still is the potential ruler of the coun-
Try anu upon W III may NOPO'AA 49,
whole future.
Property Owners Control Suffrage.
The word people" does not mean
the same thing in English politics as
it means in American politics There is
a distinction and a difference which
always must be borne in mind by
Americans in discussing English poll
tics. In Great Britain the people" are
the voters, and the suffrage is based
entirely upon property qualifications
and not upon citizenship. as it is in
America.
Unless a man is the owner or user
Of a certain amount of real property, he
cannot vote And, if he owns real eS-
tate in so different parliamentary con-
stituencies he has so votes. The large
landed prOprietors who own real eS-
tate all over the country are practically
all supporters. of the Conservative party,
so that this system OF plural voting
operates always to the advantage OF
the Tories and to the disadvantage OF
the Liberals.
The elections are strung out for more
than two weeks, giving full opportunity
to register the plural ownership vote
In the last election there were returned
to the house Of commons as Liberals.
273 Unionists or Conservatives, Il
Irish Nationalist. II Independent Ma
tionalists and 40 Labor members. This
gave the Liberals a bare plurality OF
two votes over the Conservatives, max
ing IT necessary for them to enter in
to a coalition with the Laborites and
Nationalist TO form a government
Conservatives In Control.
This narrow margin was hailed in
all quarters of the world a virtual
defeat for the Liberals, and in Great
Britain it operated 70 encourage the
to
further efforts in opposition TO the
Radical social and political program
AS matter of fact, this strong Con-
sentative showing was largely the re-
suit of the system of voting which gives
to one Conservative perhaps 20 votes,
and at the same time denies the suf-
frage to perhaps 20 Radicals.
No less than IS OF the 27S Conserv-
alive members returned were elected
in divisions where the n-resident
ownership vote exceeded the Conserva-
tive candidates majorities. In other
| words. even with the same property
qualifications for suffrage now in
force, if plural voting had been pre-
vented, the elections would have re-
! turned 353 Liberals and only 195 Con-
servatives, giving the Liberals a clear
plurality of 15S, instead of only ,
These figures are given on the author
| ity of the British Prime Minister. and
are the result of an official investiga-
ton. OF course, there are few plural
voters who are Liberals, but they are
not numerous enough to materially af-
feet these conclusions
Millions Not Allowed Votes
| On the other hand, there are several
| millions of male adults who are not en-
| titled to vote because they neither own
property nor do they pay a sufficient
amount of rent as occupiers or dodgers
| to entitle them to the suffrage under
I the extremely complicated election
| laws of the kingdom. How these mil
lions would vote if they were admit
| ted to the franchise is, of course, prob
| lematical. but all authorities agree that
| the vast majority of them, would ally
| themselves with the Radical party
That this is true is evidenced by the
J fact that the Liberals are committed
| to the doctrine of 'one man. one vote
! But of course no such radical election
/ reform legislation can be secured so
| long as the house Of lords retains its
present power Of veto. However, it is
probable that Eery large proportion
| OF the present disfranchised lower
classes would vote with the Conserv-
atives on account of their subserviency
| TO the liquor trade and, in the case OF