, 1870-04-06
Representation OF !IInoritfc*s

In 1857 Mr.. BuckA1ew proposed in the Senate
Of the United States that = hill then before the
Seuatc should he amended 70 al To Introduce
tie cumulative vote, but this proposal was
r7,}ctl ont Of ort!c1 In the SANG year, at the
revision Of tile New York Constitution, the pro-
portional representation of all the elect.,rs WAS
advocated t,y an association presided over ny
Nr. I.,iI lludley Field, and as result OF tho
Discussion the principle was applied 10 the
election OF the sesen JUICES Of the Court Of
Appeal4, tho supreme Judicial tribunal IN that
List vcnr Senator Duckalcw made second
proposal for Introducing the cumulative or free
vote i,lto the elections OF members OF Con-
gross. Til. bill enacted that each elector Of
any EtAte should ba entitled to number OF |
votes equal to the number OF Representatives
to be chosen By the State, and be at liberty to
give al such votes to ouG Candidate, or dia-
trisuto them equally or Nnequaly among
greater nunber of candidates After being
twice read It was rcferred to committee 81
the late rrca;dent Of the Senate, and was rs-
Iptted back without Amendment accompanied |
by q report strongly enloraing the cumulative |
vote. and Recommending tllat it should also he |
he committee assign -four good reasons:
l. it is inst; ,, it will check corruption; ,, il
will be guarantee Of peace, and, 4, IT
viii imrrnve tho chsrarter and ability
Of the Houre-" or the most common OBJ
| lection to the Representation Of minoritiss,
| viz, tia. it il opposed to the doctrine that
tho majority shall rule, they Say, at Is pre-
| roeterous, for it il ono Of the main merits OF
te reformed voting That it will secure the true
rulo Of tho majority, and give it sanction II
does not at present I'oaacts," aud they point
ont that .sat present we have only the !ule Of
. majority Of = majority which very ikolJ rep
rcacnts only : minority" The further prog.
rees Of this bill was prevented by the close Of
members Of the committee, is entitled to great
weight, considering that tho Senators Of tho
| United Statcs are. rule. tho most oxI,ert-
cnced and tie most Independent Of American
politicians.
The question OF proportional representation
il now before tho Constitutional Convention Of
Illinois, anl there ia considerable probability
that either the cumulative vote, or some meth
I'D basel on tie principle OF proportional rep
re. citation, will bs adopted, II is stated that
..cvery daily paper III Chicago, aud most OF
the papers. without distinction OF party, IN the
State, favor tic embodiment Of the principle
in tic new constitution"
In Switzerland manhood suffrage and the
aplortioumtnt OF representatives. accordng
TO population. have been established for at
least twenty OF thirty years in almost every
Cantnl, posscaeiuG representative govern
rncrt, and therefore the received theory Of
| tIe Ieprc. entation OF Inajorities Las been
,:orc completely tested there than in any
uthcr country OF the OLD World.
In Ap1il last committee OF tho Gr1nu
Council Of Neuchat.1 appointed to consider
the subject rrercnt..l All elaborate report IN
) favor Of proportional approximation, and, ',y
minority OF si1 to tlrec, recommended d
! | r.lyune agreeing in its main features with Mr
1laros Elan, and with tho system IN operation
! III Denmark ever eince 1H55. 1t maE be aided
] AZ an illustration of the thorough manner IN
: which the su1.jcct was investigated, that this
committee llase proposed an Important I'M
urcyt ucut III i1o lnGtte Of filling casual vacall-
= c,rs. Tl.;s scheme LAS eince passed through
i. 1irst rtasc in tho Grand Connc;l itsclt by
/ rkf1 T.4SHS.{
At Geneva tl,rrc hta been an acave agitation
. in taynr Of proportional representation ever
eiEcc Tie fatal el, ction disturbances Of August
! tSc4 The writing ot tho leaders Of the u,oye-
mplt. and latterit their weekly paper, the Rf'
fCrmis;r, have greatly contributed to the pro
1 | t.rces Of theft views, not only in Switzerland
but elsewhere. would mention in particular,
both on account OF their intrinsic merit and BE-
cause tic work may, understand, be seen at
the Atienaun, two articles by II: Esnest M.
vile in the Bibliotuque GAlrtrseQe for Marcel
and November last-
n As tac tirand Council at G encva is elected il
{, no more than tl.rce electoral districts, Of whca
ono clctts IS many IA forty-four rncmhers ~
arrangement which ptaces Tho selection Of th
N members mainly in the lands of the nominal
irg committee or caucuses). thv Grand Counci
" | vas not !i!:c!y to DO favorable to plal
which would altogether alter this, and for
~ | tiaM at all. At length, last summer, GU bill
:" being introduced to establish scheme O
NJ | proportional representation they appointed
Committee to examine it. 1lc majority OF thi!
70 committee recently reported against tho pro
ro.ei ill, and, indeed. altogether against PRO
% jor.;onA representation, but they aaui,tat
,n tEat the eats;ing system was not satisfactory
srd intimatel that several members Of III
" majority wot,l:i tc disposed 10 concur with til
minority IN supporting tho limited yot
:, ccr:,ni.tce l,as just been arroiEted to e!auin
% tl.c whole electoral system and especially th
=, limited vutc.
% Iast ycAs thc advocates Of proportional repre-
scntatlon succeeded in caHylng \ provisiO
10 that the returning officer should appoint ecfu
! tit,cers III I,3ir4, one to represent each party
!" and that, II oue-tLird OF the electors were ii,
- satiefietl with ls nomination., the scFatinecs
should bc elected by ballot, each elector votin
oi.lr fAr ono pf ezch rair. This enables til
10 tri,ority to etcure that the election ID fAlrl
ccECuctt.l. This mo1e OF clectinG scrutineel
~, exits in PENNSYLVANIA and other parts Of IL
w United Statce.
~ Gated at Zurich during the revision OF the col
btitutiot, in 1eGS, aud . proposal to inquire int
4o tho subject met with considerable atnonnt {
~, rur}ort- 1t IL, moreover. noteworthy that ii
" revised Constitution Of Zurich not only pr
,i1cs fur ali laws and large money grants b
inr submitted to a vote Of the Whole peop
IN institution which, under the namc OF rtJf'
eutlun,. has been introduced into several otht
~ CantcusN. Int even enables the people to rnal
ic lavs v vithout any Intervention on the part {
rn their Representative Assembly. This new m
vision cannot hut bc rcGa1leu As sigh til
the oIlira1y Eenrcsentatlve syetem mas u
:. | worked satisfactorily, however ekcpt9ral OF
n- NAV bc A. 10 the wisdom Of the means adopts
for sur},lcmcnting and controlling il.
lu In france II. Leon say, member az I!
a' ccmmis s;en lately appointed by the OlGri
W | Ministry to prepare u scheme for the rcorEa1
~ zatiou ut the Municipality OF rar1s> las Pr
hat t1,r rnu NyJ
'eo ciral Council should be elected BY en1,uinatiI
on | yn,inr. each reimbursement electinS tht
y. members. N. Emile dc Girarlin, ano.h
ssI member Of tle commission. las proposed
us second scheme likewise haRed on the pEinci1
IN ot proportional representation, OF which
~, WIS enc Of the earliest advocates. ~ lIeFo
en paradol, in = recent article in tho De6a'
~, "a warmly supports u. Leon Says rropos
M ~ spe.linE Il proportional representation
.s' M ian Improvement in tho system Of rsrrese
Al. AZ. tation now in use as evident and almo
T. steam "rsa1 to adus the The spsadaa iaasoaaet
'ss ies Of proportional representation into 4
ra ,ne election OF the National Legislature has n
TO- attracted cool deal Of attention in Franc
especially during aud since the general elecsi
ny Iii summer Ihc arbitrary altcra:ions viii
-, had becn 1asdc By the EnretuEnent in the elt
y torai districts had placed in conspicuous lg
- one Of The mort Serious tlcle<ta OF the elect,
Nv b. maioritics viz, the f.. ilty with which I
lhe zcrrestntatian Of a district can be transfer
% M, fr,u one rarty to the other hv = slight chan
1 lnl in its boundaries. Among the numerous pa
Ms rlIcts aud a1ticacs which have appeared in I
ep- subject in Trance may mention ~ arccia
nc, deserving attention two pamphlet. tv BAr,n
Ssn lave and H. Eorcley, and an artiele III I
~, Journal dcs Economists. for !une last, BY
20 Furt.
oo1 Il will perl..ps be saii that cumulative "
en- @ea. ins and rtu- ortional representation Ia
nat a nctllirc to 10 With Mr.. Nas.lc1stes bill
Sv1 ntoIa,lipt the limited yotc- But tho I'll
oai- issuc a1gurI and decided in Parliament in l.
"a did not relate to tho limited vote OF the .uu
@ .m latiye vote, or any other particular form
.nts voting, II WAS simply whether the e1clus
cts' re,,reseutntion OF 1najorhes shonld le nus
~ un' tai.,ed or so1se provision De made tor req
.us' scn.irs miGori,ics also Until after the deb
1u. = in the Housc Of Commons tJnlS . the P
1 neS rotal btlore the public WAS the curnulat
us yntc: And probably the principal raAson
mid substituting the limited vote in The Honse
snas Lords was that it had formed par Of the
form Dill Of the Aberdeen Cabinet in Il
no Even II It were held that the limited vote d.
ces- mot work satisfactorily. the substitution
ohs' sornc other provision for the representation
aem uiuorities iu the sauac constituencies wo
! thc cause much less disturbance Of the set1leEo
OCT Of 1857 than the complete abolition Of AL
2 q 70 preaentaticn Of tninonties:
'loW Mr. 1Iardcassle'B prcauble about Featot
tue 10 tbe electors those rights which By the
,ces- 49,. ~ s,,d r,,stnns If tho rnaln, belop
set 10 them" looks Is IT it had been origin
ad- written Tor some ult1a-Tofy bill. intended
oors Yepeai altogether the Reform bills q
oiset md l:E1. md restore the exclusive rights
rom {reeholdcrs, fzcemen, and coEporaters-
mails tne @soe ~ ettao 1,;;.rsr II ia thc,cfors
yuy material circumstance that on the &