. Rights of citizenship, a survey of safeguards for the people ... ION TO THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE By the Right Hon. F. E. Smith, , At the time of the General Election the ParliamentAct was everywhere recommended as the restora-tion to the constituencies of the right to governEngland. The House of Lords, such was thesuggestion, had usurped powers which they hadnever legally possessed, and the time had come,once for all, to render them helpless. This pointof view was rhetorically expressed in the familiarquestion, illustrated by a disgusting cartoon,Shall six hundred peers rule six mill
. Rights of citizenship, a survey of safeguards for the people ... ION TO THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE By the Right Hon. F. E. Smith, , At the time of the General Election the ParliamentAct was everywhere recommended as the restora-tion to the constituencies of the right to governEngland. The House of Lords, such was thesuggestion, had usurped powers which they hadnever legally possessed, and the time had come,once for all, to render them helpless. This pointof view was rhetorically expressed in the familiarquestion, illustrated by a disgusting cartoon,Shall six hundred peers rule six million English-men? The measure has now been in operationfor a period sufficiently long to make it possible toexamine, in a perspective somewhat calmer thanthat of a General Election, the justice of the claimunderlying these representations. We are, all of us, agreed that for good orfor evil we are governed by democracy. Theapparent tendency is to extend rather than torestrict the popular character of our is, indeed, perhaps a safe prediction that the. Kf^inalJ Haiiu: Tc^ \^^ IaI THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE 27 government of this country will remain democraticunless the tendency above adverted to should bearrested by civil convulsions. This speculation,though full of interest, would carry us too far fromthe immediate subject of inquiry. Democraticgovernment has many merits, and it suffers fromsome not inconsiderable defects. Some critics willlay stress on the merits, others would be moreimpressed by the defects, but all alike will agreethat it is supremely important, as long as wepurport to be governed by democracy, that thereality of our constitution should correspond withits labels. There is much to be said for a democratic systemof government, as there is much to be urged onbehalf of an autocratic system. There is nothingwhatever that can be urged in favour of a constitu-tion which, under the name of democracy, has ineffect concentrated every faculty of government int
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectgreatbritainparliament, bookyear1912
