Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1867-02-14
A plan for Minority; Rep
ResemtatiON.

In n article last week we adVertcd ~
tho great inequality Of political fePresen7
tation in this country, BY which gseat
mi6orities have fewor no Repfase entatiyes
in Congress-, in the ElectorSF Colleges, or /
ths State Legislatures. Thus. 2lO, ,OOU
Democrats il Ohio have but three Con-
pressmep, whtle 245 geo Republicans
have sixteen members. In 1862, l8O, 1
600 Democrats in this State elected fours'
teen members ii Congress, while III, ,ooO
Repdbiicans had bat Eve members -
When President Lincoln was chosen In
1865 he had lS0 eIeOToFal votes on a.
popular poll Of l,S00, 600 Stephen Z a; !;
fDnhplss on he contrary, got but ll
electoral votes, with 100000 popular
votes. Almost as enormous an inequalr
itv existed at tie last Presidential elsc-
ion! when Mcclellan sand Pendleton
we're the candidates for President ana
Vice President against Lincoln ana
/ johnson sIn,the present Ru@P honse
iEOl Representatives,, R,2OO,OOe hepuoh7
n ssn Votes hsyea lao memberas while
a n
\ 500 600 Democrats have oniyl4o mem
i bSrsg5 How ehall such ineQuahties DC
!. ssmadled2 The aim of all l'true 6epub'
4 lcaIs governments lis to rhave hali the
II peopje represented in il, and meta sim
,Inle majority Members of tOongresi
\ Tereonce elected insmany ofo the States
4 by which was called general ticket
that liz they run over tho whole State
fIand the party that cattiOd tsgOt them
q OII This was changed to the dlsiric
: s5stofn. ia order tdIgive eetEe minority
u prooer representation as it was suppose
Il tBsy would carry taeir proper share 0
Il sltbeydistricts. But experienced has.proV
,Ned this to be delusive. In lao !, ,Wt6
q eIAmerican party of 0hio, with el8O,OO'
u votes carried all the twenty one mem
;,Ibefs of Congress, while tho Democrat:
eNwith 100000 votes, had none Inl
I Immense minority had not Representa
IeItiye in the State of Ohio. J q gs,sa.. q,
!. ndNow here is q plan gthaar1ias nee
Is ai,gaevtedl wbich-is fair and equitable
n ana settles every thing upon arithmetic
r. al pfinciplssi eLet each patty, torYl
= stance. in Ohio, nominate and vote iC
I. nineteen mea oniaigeneral ticket to rel
% resent the State in the House OF Repre-
ie seutatiyss ofthe Uuited .StAtaa- kaM he
IL sbAs otes are couuted5 let the lawrequll
ieEof the Secretary of State to make an. A'
III oragu Of thpAS6te given for each ticke
D. The proportion that that average 9eal
is. to the wboleinumber Of votes cast WI
indicate how many. members nreto =
i assigned to each ticket. II one tick
I has 25O,000 votes, aud the other hi
'1t20O,0OO, the proportion 'of membe
nj would be asiele7ento eight. The eloye
or highest on the majority ticket would r
70 oefVe lthervcerti6cates of election, az
Il lfha- eight hiehast- on -tha minority -tinkaa .
to By this means each psrtY would haVeA
es due share ur Represe atatfTes in ~propol
es ton toits votes, and the whole State
ay Ohio, spdnot q part Of it, would be rel
y, resented ip Congress, : nr
as Iflhere we're more than two parties,
We would not,affsct in the least the Wotl
o ings of thefuIe. If there should be
a. fraction one,in each case, let the large
re, one have tAe benefit Of it. In Preside
.oi tial elections this rule would be admir-
a, ble, aud give to the minority aud majol
p twin each State what they are entitl
to to, end no more. II isthe interest Of
no parties to make reform in the basis
p representation, for each has its minOri
p as well as its majority elements. - q
,e- cinnah Eaqoirer. " 777