II. THE CONFERENCE'S RECOMMENDATIONS. [We give the full text of the Recommendations of the Conference without at the moment-offering any comment on the very wide and sweeping changes proposed.]

I.-REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS.

1. The qualifying period for registration as a Parliamentary elector shall be reduced to six months.

2. There shall be a revision of the register every six months.

3. The qualifying period shall be six months prior to January 15th and July 15th in each year.

4. The time between the preparation and coming into force of the register shall be shortened.

5. The foregoing resolutions (Nos. 2, 3, and 4) shall not apply to Ireland, which, owing to different conditions, may require special treatment.

6. In England and Wales a Registration Officer shall be appointed in every county and borough, who shall be, in the case of a county, the Clerk of the County Council, and, in the case of a borough, the Town Clerk.

7. An appeal from the decision of the Registration Officer shall lie to the County Court.

8. In the opinion of the Conference, the cost of registration should be a charge upon the local rates, subject to a contribution of one-half to be made by the State.

II. REFORM OF THE FRANCHISE.

9. (a) Every person of full age, not subject to any legal incapacity, who, for the qualifying period, has resided in any premises, or has occupied for the purpose of his business, profession, or trade, any premises of a clear yearly value of not less than £10, shall be entitled to be registered as a Parliamentary elector. (b) For the purposes of this resolution no change shall be made in the law relating to the joint occupation of business premises. (c) A franchise based upon the foregoing qualifications shall be substituted for all existing franchises. Provided that the representation of the universities shall be maintained.

10. The qualification to be registered as a Parliamentary elector shall not be lost by removal to different premises within the same constituency, or from one constituency to another in same borough or county (including the Administrative County of London), or to different premises in a contiguous county or borough.

11.-(a) A person shall not vote at a general election in more than one constituency. Provided that a person shall be entitled to one additional vote in another constituency in respect of the occupation of his business premises, or in respect of any qualification he may have as a university voter. (b) For the purpose of this resolution the expression "constituency means any county, borough, or combination of places, or university or combination of universities, returning a member or members to serve in Parliament, and where a county or borough is divided for the purpose of Parliamentary elections, means a division of the county or borough so divided.

12. The law relating to the franchise and registration shall be codified.

III. REDISTRIBUTION OF SEATS.

13. This Conference accepts as governing any scheme of redistribution the principle that each vote recorded shall, as far as possible, command an equal share of representation in the House of Commons. 14. It is desirable that there shall be a Redistribution of Seats in accordance with the following general rules:—

(i.) The number of members of the House of Commons for Great Britain shall remain substantially as at present.

(ii.) In the application of this principle the information at the disposal of the Conference indicates the taking of 70,000 as the standard unit of population for each member.

(iii.) A county or borough (other than the City of London) with
a population of less than 50,000 shall cease to have separate
representation.

(iv.) A county or borough with a population of 50,000, but less
than 70,000, shall continue to have separate representation.
(v.) A municipal borough or urban district with a population of
not less than 70,000 shall become a separate Parliamentary
borough.

(vi.) A county or borough at present returning two members shall
not lose a member if the defect in the population is 20,000 or
less.

(vii.) A member shall be given for 70,000 and for every multiple of 70,000, and an additional member for any remainder which is not less than 50,000.

(viii.) The boundaries of Parliamentary constituencies shall, as far as practicable, coincide with the boundaries of administrative

areas.

(ix.) The City of London shall continue as at present to return two members.

15. Existing boroughs entitled to return two members shall not be divided.

16. Where there are contiguous boroughs which, if formed into a single constituency, would be entitled to return not less than three nor more than five members, it shall be an instruction to the Boundary Commissioners to unite such boroughs into a single constituency. (This resolution would only become applicable in the event of a system of Proportional Representation being adopted, as recommended in a subsequent resolution.)

17. It shall be an instruction to the Boundary Commissioners to take the population as estimated by the Registrar-General for July, 1914, instead of the population according to the Census of 1911.

18. It shall be a recommendation to the Boundary Commissioners, after ascertaining local opinion, to segregate as far as possible adjacent industrial and rural areas in forming constituencies within any county.

19. Where, under the application of these rules, a borough loses its right to separate representation in Parliament, it shall be competent for the Commissioners, after having ascertained local opinion on the subject, to combine such borough with any other such borough or boroughs lying within the county, or with any other borough in the same county having separate representation, instead of merging it in the adjacent county division.

20. Where an ancient Parliamentary borough loses its representation, the county division in which the borough becomes merged shall be named after the merged borough.

21. Where districts of burghs in Scotland comprise burghs in different counties, or where under the foregoing rules a Parliamentary borough which is a district of burghs would lose representation, it shall be an instruction to the Boundary Commissioners to consider the desirability of regrouping the burghs or adding neighbouring burghs in the same county, regard being had to their size, to a proper representation of the urban and rural population, and to the distribution and pursuits of such population. Provided that the representation of the county is not thereby affected.

As regards Ireland, the Conference desires to place on record that, on the subject of redistribution, it has carried on its deliberations from the point of view of Great Britain only.

IV. UNIVERSITY REPRESENTATION.

22.—(a) The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge shall continue to return two members each; the electorate shall be widened, and, in order to secure a proper representation of minorities, each voter shall be allowed to vote for one candidate only. (b) The Universities of Durham, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, and the University of Wales, shall receive representation; these universities shall be grouped with the University of London so as to form a single constituency returning three members elected on the system of a single transferable vote. (c) The combined Universities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews and of Glasgow and Aberdeen shall also be grouped so as to form a single constituency returning three members under the system of a single transferable vote. (d) As regards all Universities the obtaining of a degree shall be the basis for electoral qualification.

V.-METHOD AND COSTS OF ELECTIONS.

23. (a) A Parliamentary borough which would be entitled on a basis of population to return three or more members shall be a single constituency.

Provided that a constituency entitled to return more than five members shall be divided into two or more constituencies each returning not less than three nor more than five members.

(b) The election in any such constituency shall be held on the principle of proportional representation and each elector shall have one transfer

able vote.

(c) For the purposes of this rule the Metropolis (excluding the City of London) shall be treated as a single area and divided into constituencies returning not less than three nor more than five members.

24. (a) At a general election all polls shall be held on one day. (b) All nominations shall take place on one day. (c) There shall be an interval of eight days between the day of nomination and the day of poll.

25. Returning Officers' charges should be paid by the State on a scale to be fixed by the Treasury.

26. The duties of Returning Officer in England and Wales shall be discharged by a deputy Returning Officer, who shall be in the case of a county the Clerk to the County Council, and in the case of a borough the Town Clerk.

27. (a) Every candidate at the election of a Member of Parliament for any county or borough shall be required to deposit with the Returning Officer, at the time of his nomination, the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds. (b) If a candidate is not elected, and the number of votes

polled by him does not exceed in the case of a single or double member constituency one-eighth of the total number of voters polling, or in the case of a constituency returning three or more members, one-eighth divided by the number of members to be elected, the deposit instead of being returned to the candidate shall be forfeited to the Treasury. (c) For the purposes of this resolution the number of "voters polling shall mean the number of ballot papers counted other than spoilt ballot papers; and where the election is held under the system of a single transferable vote, the number of "votes polled" by a candidate shall mean the number of votes polled by him as first preferences.

Although the question of candidates' expenses does not appear to be strictly within their terms of reference, the Conference is strongly and unanimously of opinion that the expenditure at present entailed in fighting a contested election is unjustifiable, and should be materially reduced. This, the Conference considers can only be effectively carried out by an alteration in the maximum amounts at present allowed under the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1883. The Conference accordingly resolved that

28. (a) The following maximum scale of expenses shall be substituted for the maximum scale contained in Part IV. of the First Schedule to the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1883 :-Sevenpence per elector in a county. Fivepence per elector in a borough other than a borough returning three or more members. Fourpence per elector in a borough returning three or more members. (b) Where there are joint candidates the total amount of the expenses of the joint candidates shall not exceed one and a-half times the scale allowed for a single candidate. (c) A duly nominated candidate, or a number of duly nominated joint candidates shall be allowed one free postage.

In this connection the Conference has had its attention drawn to a growing and, as it considers, mischievous practice by which, at the time of an election, political and other organisations incur expenditure in the furtherance of the views of particular candidates. The practice is, in the view of the Conference, a contravention of the spirit of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act. The Conference realises the difficulty of dealing with the matter, but thinks that some amendment of the Act is very desirable, and resolved that

29. Any person incurring expenditure by holding public meetings or issuing advertisements or publications for the purpose of furthering the election of a candidate shall be guilty of a corrupt practice unless such expenditure is authorised by the candidate and returned as part of his election expenses.

30. The Ballot Act shall be made permanent.

VI. THE LOCal Government Register.

The franchise for Local Government purposes is so closely connected with the Parliamentary franchise that the Conference thought it desirable to deal with the matter, and resolved that

31.-(a) In substitution for all existing franchises for Local Government purposes every person who for a period of six months immediately preceding January 15th and July 15th in any year has occupied as owner or tenant any land or premises in a Local Government area in England and Wales shall be entitled to be registered and to vote as a Local Government elector in that area.

(b) For the purpose of this resolution neither sex nor marriage shall be a disqualification, provided that a husband and wife shall not both be qualified in respect of the same premises.

(c) The Conference makes no recommendation with regard to the Local Government franchise in Scotland or Ireland.

VII.-SOLDIERS AND SAILORS.

32.-(a) It shall be the duty of the Registration Officer to ascertain, as far as possible, the names and addresses of all persons of full age who ordinarily reside in his area, but who are serving in His Majesty's forces, and such persons shall be qualified to be registered and to vote as Parliamentary electors within that area.

(b) In the case of a person who has served in His Majesty's forces during any part of the qualifying period, residence in a constituency for one month immediately preceding January 15th or July 15th, as the case may be, shall be a sufficient qualification.

All the resolutions under the foregoing sub-heads I. to VII. were agreed to unanimously.

VIII.-WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

The Conference decided by a majority that some measure of woman suffrage should be conferred. A majority of the Conference was also of opinion that if Parliament should decide to accept the principle, the most practical form would be to confer the vote in the terms of the following resolution :

33. Any woman on the Local Government Register who has attained a specified age, and the wife of any man who is on that Register if she has attained that age, shall be entitled to be registered and to vote as a Parliamentary elector.

Various ages were discussed, of which 30 and 35 received most favour. The Conference further resolved that if Parliament decides to enfranchise women, a woman of the specified age, who is a graduate of any University having Parliamentary representation shall be entitled to vote as a University elector.

IX.-MISCELLANEOUS.

The Conference resolved unanimously that:

34. The maintenance in any asylum for lunatics or idiots of any person for whose maintenance any other person is responsible shall not disqualify such other person for being registered as a Parliamentary elector.

The following resolutions were passed by a majority :—

35. This Conference, having considered the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress, is of opinion that no person who has received poor law relief other than medical relief for less than thirty days in the aggregate during the qualifying period, shall be disqualified for being registered as a Parliamentary elector.

36. At any election in a single member constituency where there are more than two candidates, the election shall be held on the system of voting known as the alternative vote.

37.-(a) Provision shall be made to enable any person who is on the Parliamentary Register in any constituency to have his name entered in a List of Absent Voters, and to record his vote as such, provided that he satisfies the Registration Officer that the nature of his employment will render it probable that he will be compelled to be absent from the constituency on the day when the poll will be taken. (b) The Absent Voters' List shall be prepared at the same time as the ordinary Register.