"Why would reviewers immediately ask whether contemporaries discussed it?"

Is there any historical evidence that people at the time considered this counterfactual possibility?

Notice the reviewer is not asking whether your counterfactual actually happened.

The reviewer is asking whether there is evidence that contemporaries considered, debated, rejected, or implemented something similar.

Why?

Because if historical actors themselves discussed the issue, that strengthens the historical plausibility of your argument.

If no contemporary evidence exists, your argument may still be valuable, but it is more clearly a modern analytical reconstruction rather than a documented contemporary debate.