The indispensable preliminaries to any such change are, in the first
place, an analysis of the results, both direct and indirect, of existing
methods and, in the second place, a careful comparison of the
improvements possible. The subsequent chapters will be devoted to both
these aspects of the problem, for in the elucidation of the system most
suited to British conditions, the experience of those countries which,
faced with the necessity for change, have already introduced new methods
into their electoral systems, will be found to be of the highest value.


[Footnote 1: _The Law of the Constitution_, p. 81.]

[Footnote 2: Our constitution is an ever-changing one, and had the
country endorsed the action of the Lords in withholding its assent to
the Finance Bill of 1909, a great blow would have been dealt to the
authority of the House of Commons. The Fabian Society, in its Manifesto
to members, issued on the eve of the election of January 1910, put this
aspect of the case very forcibly: "It may justly be claimed by the
Socialists that they have steadily refused to be misled by idle talk
about what is and what is not constitutional, and have recognized that
the only real constitution is the sum of the powers that are effectively
exercised in the country. If the House of Lords boldly refuses supply
and compels a dissolution, and the country, at the election, supports
the Lords, that support will make the action of the Lords constitutional
in spite of all paper denunciations by the defeated party" (_Fabian
News_, January 1910).

The verdict of the country, as interpreted by the present mode of
election, condemned the action of the Lords by a substantial majority.
Yet the figures in Chap. II. p. 19, show by how small a turnover of