premises, and before a man
could be put on the register of voters it was necessary for its owner
to prove "occupation" of these premises for twelve months previous to
the last 15th of July. Seven out of every eight voters were placed on
the register through this qualification. It was not a property
qualification, for the tiniest cottage at a shilling a week could
qualify its occupier for a vote if he had fulfilled the condition just
described; and a man might be a millionaire without getting a vote if
he were not in occupation of qualifying premises. Before the war the
register of voters was kept up to date by annual revision. The war,
however, made this difficult and the Government in 1915 gave
directions that this annual revision should be abandoned. As the war
went on, the existing register, therefore, rapidly became more and
more out of date. Millions of the best men in the country had become
disqualified through their war service by giving up their qualifying
premises. The House of Commons again and again postponed the date of
the General Election but the occasional by-elections which took place
proved that there was no register in existence on which it would be
morally possible to appeal to the country. The old, the feeble, the
slacker, the crank, the conscientious objector would all be left in
full strength and the fighting men would be disfranchised. A
Parliament elected on such a register would, Mr. Asquith declared, be
wholly lacking in moral authority. Therefore, by sheer necessity the
Government was forced to introduce legislation dealing with the whole
franchise question as it affected the male voter. A Coalition
Government of the Liberal, Conservative and Labour Parties had been
formed in 1915. This improved suffrage prospects, for many of the new
men joining the Government, more especially Lord Robert Cecil, the
Earl of Selborne and the Earl of Lytton, were warm supporters of our
cause; while in making room for these newscomers, Mr. Asquith found it
possible to dispense with the services of men of the type of Sir
Charles Hobhouse, Mr. A. J. Pease and others who were our opponents.
The formation of a Coalition Government helped us in another way.
Neither of the great parties, Conservative and Liberal, had been
unanimous on the women's question and the heads of these parties lived
in terror of smashing up their party by pledging themselves to
definite action on our side. Mr. Gladstone had broken up the Liber