sacrifice, often, it must be admitted, on behalf of objects very little worthy of their great devotion" (12th July 1910, Debate on the Second Reading of the Conciliation Bill). He proceeded to declare that these were not "political virtues," and added, "God forbid that they should abandon their qualities, which are our pride and theirs! "It seems clear that if women generally are willing to yield their opinions to unworthy persons, it is safer not to give this disastrous tendency much practical scope, but what is really illuminating is Mr. Chamberlain's naive confession that he likes women to be this sort of fools. These are the qualities that are agreeable to himself, provided he can prevent women from exercising their dangerous preference for unworthy objects. One wonders if it has never occurred to Mr. Chamberlain that one reason why women crave direct representation is that they recognise that men are often devoted to women who are "very little worthy," and that when men tell them they "consult women," and we inquire "what women?" we discover that they are not those whom women themselves would consult or trust or follow. There is this foundation at least for the frequent statement that women "do not wish to be ruled by women." They do not wish to be ruled by women who have been selected by men, because they know from experience that a man's woman and a woman's woman are not the same.
If we examine the qualities of Mr. Chamberlain's
