n of Great
Britain was little over sixteen millions, and that of Ireland was seven
and three-quarter millions. If these figures had formed the basis of a
proportionate representation, Ireland would have had a little more than
200 members--just about double the number which she actually returned.

By an agreement between parties, as I have said, in the last
Redistribution of Seats Bill--that of 1885--the number of
representatives of Ireland was left unchanged, and it is only since the
Conservative Party has definitely thrown in its lot as an opponent of
Irish demands as formulated to-day that this method of reducing the
force of their political opponents has begun to find favour amongst its
members: Under the Bill of Mr. Gerald Balfour, by an ingenious
arrangement of raising the limits of population under which boroughs and
counties should no longer have separate representation, the scheme
secured the transfer of twenty-two seats from Ireland to Great Britain.

The limit of population above which boroughs would have had to reach to
maintain their separate existence was fixed at 18,500, and under this
arrangement three boroughs in Ireland and six in Great Britain would
have lost their seats. If the limit had been fixed at 25,000 a total of
19 seats in Great Britain and still only 3 in Ireland would have lost
their member, while a minimum population of 35,000 would have
disfranchised 25 boroughs in Great Britain and only 4 in Ireland.

The actual proposal was elaborately calculated so as to produce the
least possible disturbance to the small boroughs in Great Britain, while
securing the maximum of disfranchisement in Ireland.

At the same time the standard of population per member, which in the
case of counties was fixed at 65,000, secured the disfranchisement of
one Scottish county, the net disfranchisement of two English counties,
and the deprivation of no less than 20 Irish counties of their member.

The grant of a new member to Belfast would have made the net loss to
Ireland 22 seats, and these were to be redistributed as between England,
Scotland and Wales in the proportion of 17:4:1.

These, then, are the data upon which we have to reckon. The Conservative
Government, it should be added, greeted by a howl of disapproval even
from its own supporters at the anomalies which it proposed to leave
unredressed, appointed a Special Committee, the report of which was a
posthumous child of the ministry which created it.