WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE 1917

ELECTORAL REFORM 215
inclusion of soldiers and sailors in it, with means to record
their votes if abroad on service. His attitude represented the
point of view of those who did not welcome domestic reforms
in wartime, either because they regarded them as an
undesirable distraction from our main concern, or because
they were opposed to the suggested reforms themselves.
Speaking in support of Mr. Asquith's motion, I gave a
review of the electoral situation, and urged that it was of vital
importance that we should make a provision whereby the
next parliament, which would have to settle the problems of
peace and reconstruction, should be really representative of
the men and women who had by their effort and suffering
made the new Britain possible. The moment a Franchise
Bill was brought in, such questions as Plural Voting, University
Representation and Women's Suffrage were bound to
arise. Since the majority of the House would be on the side
of such reforms as were outlined by the Speaker's Conference,
the only result of bringing in such a measure as Mr.
Salter proposed would be to have the majority in opposition
to its limits, instead of in favour of its provisions.
On the question of votes for women, I reminded the
House that I had always supported this, and that the heroic
patriotism of the women workers during the War had now
made their claim irresistible. Further, the domestic problems
which would have to be faced after the War would intimately
concern them, and to exclude them from a voice in choosing
the parliament that would deal with these issues would be an
outrage.
I admitted that the question of Proportional Representation
was in a different category. It was not an integral part
of the reform of the franchise or of redistribution. Whether
it should form a part of the whole scheme was for the House
to say. The other measures need not stand or fall by their
verdict on it.
After a full debate, Mr. Asquith's motion was adopted