arise directly affecting their interests, and possibly meaning for
them large displacement of labour? I cannot think that the House will
deny that, and, I say quite frankly, that I cannot deny that claim."
It was clear the whole question of franchise would need to be gone
into--the soldiers' vote was lost to him under our system when he was
away, and the sailors' redistribution was long overdue, an election,
as things were, would be absolutely unrepresentative. So after several
attempts to deal with the problem in sections, a Committee was set
up under the Speaker of the House of Commons to go into the whole
question of Franchise reform and registration.

The Committee was composed of five Peers and twenty-seven members of
the House of Commons, and started its work in October, 1916, and in
its report, April, 1917, it recommended, by a majority, that a measure
of enfranchisement should be given to women.

The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and the Consultative
Committee, which had been formed in 1916 by the N.U.W.S.S., of
representatives of all constitutional societies, presented various
memorials, notably an admirable memorandum of women's work and opinion
in favour, prepared by the National Union for the Speakers' Conference
during its sittings. After its recommendations while the bill was
being drafted, Mrs. Henry Fawcett, LL.D., the President of the
N.U.W.S.S., headed a deputation received by the Premier, Mr. Lloyd
George, who has always been a supporter of Women's Suffrage. This was
certainly one of the most representative and interesting deputations
that ever went to Downing Street. It numbered over fifty and every
woman in it represented a great section of industrial and war
workers--Miss Mary MacArthur, the Trade Union Leader was there, and
Miss Margaret Bondfield, Mrs. Flora Annie Steele, the authoress; Lady