New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1846-07-13
Apportionmenr-The Senate.

DR.. TAYLOR of Onondaga, from the appropriate
Committee on Friday reported 10 the Convention
In favor of the election Of Senators and Members OF
Assembly hereafter by SINGLE DISTRICTS eIc'u
svely. This is wise, salutary, and eminendy Re
publican The Reform here contemplated Will
alone be worth 10 the People the entire cost OF The
Convention and there seems 10 be little or no rea
son 10 doubt tha, it will be carried AS YET no op
position has been made from any quarter while en-
linen. Members Of the Convention OF all parties have
Indicated ;heie hearty approval We doubt whe'
Their there will be even vote against Distrcting in
the Convention. go certain and signal Is generally
the triumph Of just and benehcep' cipie "hen-
ever public attention is fairly caied IT, ana ~neh
no violent prejudice exis's to cloud the popular
iudzmept The copsummation OF this Reform VIII
bring the election of Senators and Representatives
much nearer the People than hitherto Will dimlniso
the influence OF Caucuses and Juntos. and render
the responsibility of Legislators to Constituencies
more immediate and palpable. The trouble and
expense Of nominating candidates for the senate
will also be much diminished.
We regret tina, the Committee has not seen iii
TO recommend an increase OF Representatives in our
L.v,.la,iye bodies, especially in the Senate. The
Senate
than a Legislative assembly. Very lew even oil
Tho smales, Stales have less numerous upper
bouae Than ours To our mind an Increase oil the
Senate 10 forty.eght and the Assembly 10 A Mem
81 bers Is on many accounts desirable This would
y give n larger constituency TO each Member thnn wns
deemed proper by the Convention OF 1891, while II
would allow Senator each 10 Duchess, ST. Law.
renee Jefferson, Steuben. and many other Counties
which are TO form bat par, of District each on
the basis reported by the Committee. The larger
the Legislative body the more immediate is ,'s re
sponsibility 10 the People The representative OF
Vermont township for instance. cannot vote against
the will Of bic constituents without their knowing
L. and letting him know II too while Senator rep
resen,ng Chenango and Delaware, for example, or
Albany and Schenectady, ST. Lawrence and
franklin, may be required by his constituents OF
one County to pursue a course exactly opposite TO
tha, strenuously demanded by those residing in the
other County. He may be elected by two Counties
but will very often 6ud ii difficult to represent more
than one Of them. We WISH therefore that smaller
Districts had been deemed expedien,, but can hard
" hope that the Judgment of the Committee will
be overruled.
If the Assembly is TO consist of l2s Members as
hitherto each District should csn,ain very nearly
90 900 inhabitants But we have some ak or eight
Counties having considerably lees than thai amount
each of which must have one Member and their de,
Hciency Of population mus, be balanced by cor
responding excess on the part of others Thus
Richmond Rookland and Putnam, with some II or
l3 900 Inhabitants each, must have one Assembly
man each, or three to less than 10000 Inhabitants
while Queens, Clinton, and Genesee, with about
80 900 each or 90 600 in ALL have but the same NUN
Der. Such dispar,ies cannot be entirely avoided
bu, they would be modified by increasing the NUN
Der of Assembymen. The cost is the only oo1ec'
tion and that could be met by limiting still farther
the Sessions of the Legislature. sixty.day SEES
Sion, by Representatives fully acquainted With the
wants and grievances of their constituents, would
answer better purpose than one of q hundred days
under different auspices.
We have made the following analysis OF the
Political character OF tho proposed Senate Districts
with intention Of questioning the fairness of the
Apporonment. We do not think any intentional
injustice has been done.