Independent Democrat., 1843-09-23
THE DISTRICT SYSTEM.

II is unfortunate that there is not an uni
form mode Of eIcctng the congre .sional
representation throughout the United
States. Whether congress his the power
Of prescribing the myde, Is not now to be
discussed; we allude not to ,hat part OF
the subject, the federal con5li!uIon must,
settle tiat point. We have in our mind u
different matter. Tie people ofthe Unl,
led States are diYide4 into two great par
ties, each party must have q presidential
candidate. II will he seen by every one,
that in territory ofso great extent as ours,
there must be conflicting views as 10 whom
that person shall lie. The natural and in
cy,taOIe tendency Of thing, requires that
there shoul be some concert of action
some preliminary election, in order that
there should be no divisions arising from
the preferences Of the Gl!lorent sections.
Ii there was an uniform mode Cf elGct;ng
the represcnil1n II congress, the selection
o! candidate fr the pr, silency would be
comparatively elsy, The modc pursued
Ms to one would of course contro! the 9th.
OF. AS ii is, when some safes elect By
general ticket, and others by districts, It is
almost impossible, harmon!ousIy, to organ.
izc body which shall resemble and typi-
ty,n its elements Inc electoral college.
In appointing delegates to a national con-
ven'lon, for The purpose ofse,ecting a can.
dlda!e for the presidency, it is obvious that
unless tae delegates are appointed in al
uniform manner, the greatest injustice
may be done. If one state elects by dis.
trlcts, and ano,her--iis iahbor--by
general ticket, 1t follows taat the aggre
gate majority in the one possesses a grea
advantage over the other; inasmuch as the
vote OF the one may be divided, and the
other unanimous. All the states, with tht
exception of four, have adopted the disro
system, tie inequality OF representation
would, therefore, be reduced to what woulc
exist between four states and TWENTY-FIVE
and this would have TO be torne from al
impcrous uncon'rJ llb'c necessity. Thos,
states which have no district sy stem, coult
not, Of course, lie expected to select dele
gates in any ether way than ty c5nyen
tlon deriving iis powers from primary
meetings Of the people throughout The
state, and the National Convention woulC
be compelled 10 admit these delegates, be-
cause the undsricted states would &C
otherwise unrepresentcd. This difficulty
has arisen in Consequence of The Nationa
Convention mode of nominating candl
date for the presidency, and is one which
must necessarily result from it; there i.
no avoiding degree of inequality unit
all the states shall have been laid off intc
districts. Bat in order 10 reduce this in
equality as much az possible, in order tha
the convention should be organized on the
fnirest and most equitable principles, all
the states which are dis;ricted, should ap-
point delegates by districts, each district
through its delegate, giving its own vote
m the convention. Whether we regard
the structure Of the Federal constitution,
Or popular representation, this is the most
proper m7de of selecting delegates and of
voting. The National Convention must
either be constitut d in this way, or we
can hold no convention at all. If not IN
this way, on what principles can ii be or
gan zeI9 Each state TO send the number
Of delegates it chooses? One state nigh,
sea. more than all the others tpge,her, !