The passage of the Manhood Suffrage Bill in March last year. raised the nuniber of voters from some 3,000,000 to an estimated 13,- 000,000, this great mass of newly enfranchised persons being composed of the so-called non-propertied': lasses. though the Kenseikai was the party in power at the time this ime mense increase was made, it is un: deniable that expressions of this bitterly contested achievement to their credit, they felt none too happy inwardly as to what, in consequence of their action, the future might hold in store for' them. The votes of 3,000,000 persons, whose political views were more or less Known, might be controlled, but the prospect of manipulating the votes additional 10,000,000, whose opinions were undetermined, " presented a very delicate problem, and professional politicians were inwardly filled with alarm at the prospect, forecast by many people, "of the newly enfranchised. masses combine ing together into one immense s0- dalist, labour, or proletarian party and, by virtue of numbers, completely overwhelming and swamping out each and all of the existing parties,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.