§ Mr. HERBERT WILLIAMSI beg to move, "That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the disfranchisement of electors who neglect to vote; and for purposes incidental thereto."
It is 100 years since the first of the great Reform Bills was passed, and ever since then every party has been engaged from time to time in conferring the franchise on ever larger numbers of people, till at this moment we can say with truth that every male is an elector. Curiously, the more people become enfranchised, the less interest they take in the polls, largely, I think, because people do not esteem that which is obtained without any trouble, and we have the spectacle at every election, more notably in municipal than in Parliamentary elections, that a vast number of the people do not exercise the franchise. These people occasionally become terribly excited and may cast a vote which, in a fit of emotion, as Members opposite will think, puts the wrong party into power. You have, because of this great mass of negligent voters, a much greater instability of public opinion as expressed at the polls than would otherwise be the case. I think, if people found it a little more difficult to get the vote, they would think a great deal more of it.
The proposal that I make is a simple one, that on the occasion of any election, either local government or Parliamentary, it shall be the duty of the returning officer within a prescribed time to transmit to the registration officer for the area a list of all those persons who have failed to vote. Within a prescribed time from that the registration officer shall forward a communication, in the form laid down in the Schedule, to each of these electors informing them that they will be removed from the next register of electors unless they can show that their failure to vote was due to sickness or absence or any other good, 159 sound, and reasonable cause, or, failing such a good reason, that they must pay a fee of 5s. in lieu thereof. There is the case of people who do not vote because they do not like either of the candidates. That problem is easily solved. They can enter the polling station, take a paper and deliberately spoil it.
We are now living in days when the principles of responsible and representative government, in which I believe firmly, are challenged throughout the world, even in this country, the very home of responsible representative government, and therefore clearly in my judgment we have to do what we can to preserve that system of government which, among people who are trained for it—I emphasise the words "trained for it"—is undoubtedly the best system in the world. That system has now been swept out of the greater part of Europe. It never existed outside Europe, I think, except in the British Empire. It certainly never existed in the form of responsible representative government as we understand it on the American Continent, because that part of the American Government which is representative is not responsible and that part which is responsible is not representative. The Presidential system which exists in the United States has been copied by a great many other countries which have never enjoyed that great principle of responsible representative government which we enjoy. Because I believe that this Bill may do a little to restore that sense of esteem from which representative institutions have fallen in recent years, I ask leave to introduce it.
§ Mr. TINKERI rise to oppose the Motion. I heard someone on my side say it was a joke when the hon. Member got up to introduce the Bill, but I do not treat it in that way. I take it that anything that is brought forward is brought forward seriously. The hon. Member is doing a great disservice to many people in the country. Hitherto we have been held up as the Mother of Parliaments, and we have obtained that position by the freedom of the electors, by trying to persuade them by educational efforts to take an interest in Parliamentary affairs, and I claim that it has been very successful indeed. We ought to set an example to other parts of the world, and I do not think there is any 160 requirement now to say, "Unless you record your vote, pressure will be put upon you and you will be liable to a fine." I do not think that is proceeding on the right lines.
When we try to tell people what to do, we ourselves ought to set an example. In the House of Commons, we ought to clean our own doorsteps before we talk about other peoples. I shall be interested to know the percentage of votes recorded here when a division is taken. There are 615 elected Members of this House. We go to the electorate saying what sacrifices we are prepared to make if returned to the House of Commons, that we will be in our places, and will always vote on principle and see to it that our votes are recorded. Do we carry that out? Even last night on the first day after Easter I did an unpopular thing when, at ten minutes past eight o'clock, I rose and called for a count. Why? Because there were only 22 people in the House, and we were discussing the important question of housing. I did an unpopular thing by calling for a count in order to get more people into the Chamber. [HON. MEMBERS: "Who was speaking?"] A Conservative Member had just sat down after having made a good speech. I waited until he had finished, because I did not want to interrupt his speech.
I have seen the hon. Member who has moved this Motion from time to time trying to prevent people from recording their votes here. He is now in the position of being called "Man Friday," a name which used to belong to another hon. Gentleman. I designate him as "Man Friday," because he stands outside on a Friday trying to organise people not to come into the Chamber when a count is called; yet this afternoon he comes forward to ask leave to introduce a Measure telling the poor electors that unless they record their votes, and allow themselves to be pushed into doing so whether they want to do so or not, they are to be fined or disfranchised. If we are honest with ourselves, we shall disfranchise some here before we attempt to disfranchise electors.
§ Question put, "That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the disfranchisement of electors who neglect to vote; and for purposes incidental thereto."
§ The House divided: Ayes, 90; Noes, 76.
161| Division No. 188.] | AYES. | [3.24 p.m. |
| Acland-Troyte, Lieut.-Colonel | Hartland, George A. | Rickards, George William |
| Applin, Lieut.-Col. Reginald V. K. | Headiam, Lieut.-Col. Cuthbert M. | Roberts, Aled (Wrexham) |
| Benn, Sir Arthur Shirley | Henderson, Sir Vivian L. (Chelmsford) | Ross, Ronald D. |
| Birchall, Major Sir John Dearman | Hornby, Frank | Ross Taylor, Walter (Woodbridge) |
| Bossom, A. C. | Howitt, Dr. Alfred B. | Russell, Alexander West (Tynemouth) |
| Boyce, H. Leslie | Jesson, Major Thomas E. | Russell, Hamer Field (Sheffield, B'tside) |
| Brown, Brig.-Gen. H.C. (Berks., Newb'y) | Jones, Lewis (Swansea, West) | Salt, Edward W. |
| Bullock, Captain Malcolm | Lamb, Sir Joseph Quinton | Sanderson, Sir Frank Barnard |
| Cadogan, Hon. Edward | Leech, Dr. J. W. | Savery, Samuel Servington |
| Calne, G. R. Hall- | Lennox-Boyd, A. T. | Shaw, Helen B. (Lanark, Bothwell) |
| Campbell, Sir Edward Taswell (Brmly) | Liddall, Walter S. | Simmonds, Oliver Edwin |
| Castlereagh, Viscount | Llewellyn-Jones, Frederick | Smith, R. W. (Ab'rd'n & Kinc'dine, C.) |
| Clarry, Reginald George | Lockwood, John C. (Hackney, C.) | Soper, Richard |
| Conant, R. J. E. | Loftus, Pierce C. | Stewart, J. H. (Fife, E.) |
| Cooke, Douglas | MacAndrew, Lieut.-Col. C. G. (Partick) | Storey, Samuel |
| Copeland, Ida | Makins, Brigadier-General Ernest | Stourton, Hon. John J. |
| Crookshank, Col. C. de Windt (Bootle) | Mills, Sir Frederick (Leyton, E.) | Strauss, Edward A. |
| Crossiey, A. C. | Mitchell, Harold P. (Br'tf'd & Chisw'k) | Strickland, Captain W. F. |
| Dower, Captain A. V. G. | Molson, A. Hugh Elsdale | Sueter, Rear-Admiral Sir Murray F. |
| Drewe, Cedric | Moreing, Adrian C. | Sutcliffe, Harold |
| Duggan, Hubert John | Morrison, William Shephard | Tate, Mavis Constance |
| Eady, George H. | Nation, Brigadier-General J. J. H. | Todd, Lt.-Col. A. J. K. (B'wick-on-T.) |
| Eales, John Frederick | Nunn, William | Tufnell, Lieut.-Commander R. L. |
| Everard, W, Lindsay | Oman, Sir Charles William C. | Wallace, Captain D. E. (Hornsey) |
| Fleming, Edward Lascelles | Pearson, William G. | Ward, Sarah Adelaide (Cannock) |
| Flint, Abraham John | Peat, Charles U. | Whiteside, Borras Noel H. |
| Gledhill, Gilbert | Peto, Sir Basil E. (Devon, Barnstaple) | Williams, Charles (Devon, Torquay) |
| Grattan-Doyle, Sir Nicholas | Pike, Cecil F. | Wise, Alfred R. |
| Grimston, R. V. | Potter, John | |
| Guy, J. C. Morrison | Ralkes, Henry V. A. M. | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.— |
| Harbord, Arthur | Reid, William Allan (Derby) | Mr. Herbert Williams and Mr. Glossop. |
| NOES. | ||
| Acland, Rt. Hon. Sir Francis Dyke | Harris, Sir Percy | Parkinson, John Allen |
| Astor, Viscountess (Plymouth, Sutton) | Heligers, Captain F. F. A. | Patrick, Colin M. |
| Attlee, Clement Richard | Hills, Major Rt. Hon. John Waller | Petherick, M. |
| Banfield, John William | Holdsworth, Herbert | Ramsay, T. B. W. (Western Isles) |
| Batey, Joseph | Hume, Sir George Hopwood | Rathbone, Eleanor |
| Boulton, W. W. | John, William | Rea, Walter Russell |
| Brown, C. W. E. (Notts., Mansfield) | Johnstone, Harcourt (S. Shields) | Ropner, Colonel L. |
| Campbell-Johnston, Malcolm | Jones, Henry Haydn (Merioneth) | Rosbotham, Sir Thomas |
| Cape, Thomas | Jones, Morgan (Caerphilly) | Samuel, Rt. Hon. Sir H. (Darwen) |
| Caporn, Arthur Cecil | Knight, Holford | Sandeman, Sir A. N. Stewart |
| Cazalet, Thelma (Islington, E.) | Lawson, John James | Smith, Tom (Normanton) |
| Daggar, George | Leckie, J. A. | Spears, Brigadier-General Edward [...]. |
| Davies, David L. (Pontypridd) | Leonard, William | Spender-Clay, Rt. Hon. Herbert H. |
| Davies, Rhys John (Westhoughton) | Lewis, Oswald | Thorne, William James |
| Dobbie, William | Logan, David Gilbert | Tinker, John Joseph |
| Elliston, Captain George Sampson | Lovat-Fraser, James Alexander | Todd, A. L. S. (Kingswinford) |
| Elmley, Viscount | Lunn, William | Ward, Irene Mary Bewick (Wallsend) |
| Emmott, Charles E. G. C. | Mabane, William | Watt, Captain George Steven H. |
| Foot, Dingle (Dundee) | McEntee, Valentine L. | Wedgwood, Rt. Hon. Josiah |
| Foot, Isaac (Cornwall, Bodmin) | McKeag, William | White, Henry Graham |
| George, Major G. Lloyd (Pembroke) | McKie, John Hamilton | Williams, David (Swansea, East) |
| Gillett, Sir George Masterman | Mainwaring, William Henry | Wills, Wilfrid D. |
| Graham, D. M. (Lanark, Hamilton) | Mander, Geoffrey le M. | Wilmot, John |
| Grenfell, David Rees (Glamorgan) | Manningham-Buller, Lt.-Col. Sir M. | Wilson, Clyde T. (West Toxteth) |
| Grundy, Thomas W. | Maxton, James | |
| Hall, George H. (Merthyr Tydvil) | Nicholson, Godfrey (Morpeth) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.— |
| Mr. G. Macdonald and Mr. Groves. |
§ Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Herbert Williams, Mrs. Tate, Mr. Clarry, Mr. Wise, Commander Bower, Mr. Glossop, Lieut.-Colonel Applin, and Mr. Leslie Boyce.