In no other way which it seems possible to
suggest would Parliament be so certain of containing the very elite of
the country.
And it is not solely through the votes of minorities that this
system of election would raise the intellectual standard of the
House of Commons. Majorities would be compelled to look out for
members of a much higher calibre. When the individuals composing the
majority would no longer be reduced to Hobson's choice, of either
voting for the person brought forward by their local leaders or not
voting at all; when the nominee of the leaders would have to encounter
the competition not solely of the candidate of the minority, but of
all the men of established reputation in the country who were
willing to serve; it would be impossible any longer to foist upon
the electors the first person who presents himself with the catchwords
of the party in his mouth and three or four thousand pounds in his
pocket. The majority would insist on having a candidate worthy of
their choice, or they would carry their votes somewhere else, and
the minority would prevail. The slavery of the majority to the least
estimable portion of their number would be at an end: the very best
and most capable of the local notabilities would be put forward by
preference; if possible, such as were known in some advantageous way
beyond the locality, that their local strength might have a chance
of being fortified by stray votes from elsewhere.
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