The startling English by-elections of the last few weeks have called attention to the working of the new electorate1 in Great Britain and set men pondering about its possibilities in a way a general election failed to make them think. Democracy in the sense of government of a great state by the absolute and unfettered authority of the majority of its own citizens of all ranks and conditions is a modern experiment. The United States of America are the oldest democracy in the world to-day.
How many realise that Britain became a democracy for the first time in 1917? Until then the majority of its adult population had no voice in the making or administration of the laws that ruled their lives.
The United States of America, France and Italy have adopted universal suffrage2 as the basis of authority for many a year. So have the British Dominions3, but Britain herself, the pioneer of [Pg 283]representative institutions, until recently shrank from the experiment of adult suffrage. Before the Reform Act of 1832 the total electorate of this country numbered only 3 per cent. of the population. The distribution of power amongst this small percentage was so arranged that even the 3 per cent. represented in effect no more than at best 1 per cent.
A generation of turmoil5 and agitation6, almost culminating in revolution, succeeded in forcing through a measure which increased the 3 per cent. to 4.5 per cent. of the population! It is true that the distribution of votes was more equitable7, but even with that improvement to call this ridiculous percentage a democracy would be absurd. Another generation of growing agitation ensued. This also ended in violence. Then Mr. Disraeli, one of the boldest and most venturesome of British statesmen, in 1867 doubled the electorate. His measure increased the number of voters to 9 per cent. of the population.
Disraeli's audacious plunge8 horrified9 some of his aristocratic supporters and shocked many Whigs. "Bob" Lowe had already foretold10 calamities11 that would follow Gladstone's more cautious proposals. Seven years later saw the election of the first Tory[Pg 284] parliament since 1841. So much for the prophecies of the men who always fear evil must flow from justice.
Fifteen years after the Disraeli measure the Gladstone administration added another 7 per cent. to the electorate. The Gladstone proposals, which raised the number of voters to 16 per cent., were so vehemently12 contested that they nearly precipitated13 a Constitutional crisis of the first magnitude. Ultimately, however, they were carried, and there the franchise14 remained until the war.
The electorate that, through its representatives, accepted the German challenge in 1914, and was therefore responsible for involving the country in the most costly15 and sanguinary war it ever waged, represented one-sixth of the population and about one-third of the adults. The conscription act converted the country to the injustice16 of this state of things. Millions of men were forced to risk their lives for a policy which they had no share in fashioning. Millions of women faced anxieties and tortures worse than death in pursuit of the same policy, and yet no woman was allowed to express any opinion as to the selection of the rulers who led them to this sacrifice.
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It was felt to be so unjust that in the exaltation of war, which lifted men to a higher plane of equity17, this obvious wrong was redressed18. Hence the greatest of all the enfranchisement19 acts, the Act of 1917, that for the first time converted the British system of government into a democracy.
How has it worked? It is too early to speak of its results. Mr. Austen Chamberlain in a letter[10] has called attention to one aspect of its operation. He emphasises a fact which is already known to every man who has passed through the experience of a contested election, that nearly one-half the new electorate is unattached to any political party.
If you deduct20 out of the total the numbers of the old electorate which had already formed ties of a party character, you will find from the result of the elections that more than half the new electorate is free and floating about without any anchor or rudder and ready to be towed by the first party that succeeded in roping them. Millions of the new electors are too indifferent or too undecided about political issues to take sides at the polling booths.
In the hotly contested election of January, 1910,[Pg 286] 92 per cent. of the voters went to the poll. At the second election which took place in the same year the percentage was 89. The slight difference between the two elections would be accounted for by the fact that in the second election the register was old. Compare these results with the two elections which have occurred since the 1917 enfranchisement. At the 1918 election 64 per cent. only of the voters could be induced to make the acquaintance of the ballot21-boxes. This might be explained by the inevitable22 political apathy23 which follows a great war. The pulse of party beat feebly and irregularly. The old party organisations had, through five years of neglect, fallen into complete disrepair—the new party had not yet had time to perfect its machinery25. Hence the failure of competitive effort to induce at least 6,000,000 of the new voters to take a sufficient interest in their new privileges to exercise them at the election.
The next four years were a period of growing political activity. The new party was especially energetic. Their chief organiser, Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P., is one of the most gifted party managers of this generation, and his achievement is an outstanding feature of political organisation24 in[Pg 287] this country. The old parties also had time to repair their machinery; by the time the election was called their organisations were in full working order. The only party which had no organisation worth speaking of was the National Liberal party. The others were ready for the struggle.
Nevertheless, when the election came in November nearly 5,000,000 of the electors were not sufficiently26 interested in the contest to take the trouble to record their votes. It showed an improvement of 10 per cent. on the previous election, but there still remained nearly 20 per cent.—making allowance for death, sickness, removals, etc.—who stayed at home, and could not be persuaded by personal or public appeal or pressure exercised by three or four great organisations, to walk a few hundred yards out of their way in order to place a simple cross on the ballot paper that was awaiting them.
The municipal elections tell a still more dismal27 story of apathy. But that is an old story. It was with difficulty that the old electorate, with all its long training, could be cajoled to visit the polling booths where the good government of the towns in which they breathed, lived, toiled28, enjoyed themselves, and rested was being determined29. At their[Pg 288] worst, however, they made a better show than the newly enfranchised30 voters.
How does the record compare with democracy in other lands? France is no better. On the whole, I understand it is worse. The voting in the United States of America fluctuates according to the interest excited by the particular election. In this respect America does not differ from Britain. I cannot lay my hand on the percentage of the poll at the last presidential election, but I gather it was higher than ours at the general election. The Germans polled at their last election 89 per cent. of their electorate; in Italy the percentage was much lower.
With an unpolled and unticketed electorate of over 4,000,000 anything may happen. They have clearly no interest in the ordinary political conflicts that engage the minds of their fellow-citizens; otherwise, the excitement of two general elections would have roused them to such faint exhibition of partisanship31 as is implied in the choosing of a candidate out of the two or three who have taken the trouble to send along their pictures.
But one day an issue may arise which will wake up the most lethargic32. What will it be? And[Pg 289] what view will they take of it when it comes? And who will succeed in catching33 the eye of the slumbering34 multitude when it opens? Much depends on the answer to these questions. They may rally to the defence of property menaced by rapacious35 creeds36. They may rush to the protection of their homes threatened by avaricious37 wealth.
Even those who have already voted are liable to sudden and devastating38 changes of opinion. Witness Mitcham, Willesden, and Edgehill. These three seats were regarded as being amongst the safest in England, and were selected for that very reason.
Amongst many disquieting39 factors there is one which ought to be dealt with ere another election arrive. Under the present system a minority of electors may usurp40 absolute dominion4 over the fortunes of this kingdom for fully41 five years.
This is one of the freaks of the group system. The present parliamentary majority has been elected by an aggregate42 vote which represents something a little better than one-fourth of the total electorate and one-third of those who recorded their votes. If Mitcham and Edgehill are a foretaste of what is to happen at the "General,"[Pg 290] Labour will be the lucky third. A similar turnover43 of votes in every constituency would place them easily in that position.
America has brought its vast electorate under what seems to us to be a perfect discipline. But in the process it has passed through much tribulation44, including the furnace of a terrible civil war. Italy has been impelled45 to correct the working of democratic institutions by a display of force. Britain may mobilise and drill its electoral forces with less trouble. But it has a Socialist46 party, which has grown by millions within less than a decade—and is still growing. This week its most eloquent47 member has proposed, in the House of Commons, a solemn motion for the abolition48 of private property. Deputies chosen by four and a quarter million of British electors will vote for this proposal, and if, four years hence, they add another million and a half to their poll, they will be in a position to place that motion on the statute49 book. Their increase between 1918 and 1922 was greater than that.
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1
electorate
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| n.全体选民；选区 | |
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suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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equitable
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| adj.公平的；公正的 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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14
franchise
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| n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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equity
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| n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票 | |
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redressed
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| v.改正( redress的过去式和过去分词 )；重加权衡；恢复平衡 | |
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enfranchisement
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| 选举权 | |
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deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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ballot
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| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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enfranchised
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| v.给予选举权( enfranchise的过去式和过去分词 )；（从奴隶制中）解放 | |
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31
Partisanship
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| n. 党派性, 党派偏见 | |
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32
lethargic
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| adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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avaricious
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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devastating
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| adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的 | |
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disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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40
usurp
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| vt.篡夺，霸占；vi.篡位 | |
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41
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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42
aggregate
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| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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43
turnover
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| n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量 | |
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tribulation
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| n.苦难，灾难 | |
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45
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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47
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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48
abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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49
statute
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| n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例 | |
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