Page:Thomas Hare - The Election of Representatives, parliamentary and municipal.djvu/248

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
196
THE DUTIES OF THE REGISTRARS.

It is true that the division of England and Wales into sixty-nine constituencies,[1] acting independently of one another, rendered unnecessary several of the provisions required where, as in the method herein contemplated, the existing constituencies would not only be much increased in number, but are so far connected that the electoral weight of the votes is measured by the same numerical standard, and individual voters may transfer themselves from one local constituency to another.

In the Proportional Representation Bill, from which the foregoing clauses are extracted, the number of members to be returned at the next general election by the several con-

  1. They are specified in the first Schedule. The principle of division was to give distinct representation to the larger towns, and include the smaller in the counties. It allots to the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, 5 members, and to cities and boroughs as follows:— Plymouth and Devonport, 3; Bristol, 4; Portsmouth and Southampton, 4; Greenwich, 4; Newcastle-on-Tyne, Tynemouth, and North Shields, 6; Wolverhampton, Wednesbury, and Walsall, 7; Lambeth, 8; Southwark, 4; Birmingham, 7; Kingston-upon Hull, 3; Leeds, 6; Sheffield, 5; Bradford, 3; Halifax, Huddersfield, and Dewsbury, 4; Liverpool, 11; Manchester and Salford, 11; City of London, 4; Finsbury, 9; Mary-le-bone, 10; Tower Hamlets, 8; Hackney, 8; Westminster and Chelsea, 11. The Schedule then distributes the county seats, exclusive of the foregoing boroughs, thus:—Bedfordshire, 3; Berkshire, 4; Buckingham-shire, 4; Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, 5; Cheshire, 12; Cornwall, 8; Cumberland and Westmoreland, 6; Derbyshire, 8; Devonshire, 10; Dorsetshire, 4; Durham, 13; Essex, 10; Gloucestershire, 8; Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, 8; Herefordshire, 3; Hertfordshire, 4; Kent, 15; Lancashire, Northern Division, 6; Lancashire, North-Eastern Division, 7; Lancashire, South-Eastern Division, 16; Lancashire, South-Western Division, 9; Leicestershire, 6; Lincolnshire, 9; Middlesex, 6; Monmouthshire, 4; Norfolk, 9; Northamptonshire and Rutlandshire, 6; Northumberland, 5; Nottinghamshire, 7; Oxfordshire, 4; Shropshire, 5; Somersetshire, 10; Staffordshire, 11; Suffolk, 7; Surrey, 11; Sussex, 9; Warwickshire, 6; Wiltshire, 6; Worcestershire, 7; Yorkshire, North Riding, 6; Yorkshire, East Riding, and York, 4; Northern Division of West Riding of Yorkshire, 6; Eastern Division of West Riding of Yorkshire, 6; Southern Division of West Riding of Yorkshire, 9; North Wales, consisting of the counties of Anglesey, Carnarvon, Denbigh, Flint, and Montgomery, 10; South Wales, consisting of the counties of Brecon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Glamorgan, Pembroke, and Radnor, 16.