, 1870-05-14


hibited.
). That the Legislature shall make no
appropriations for canals or railroads, hut
may e1pend the surplus earnings of any
canal for its enlargement or extension.
THE NEW MODE OF VOTING,
The system of free OF cumulative voting
has been submitted to the people by the
Illinois Convention, in such 1nannor that,
if adopted, the members Of the Lower
House Of the Legislature Will hereafter be
elected upon this plan Each Legislative
District will elect one Senator and three
Representatives. Under tho system now
submitted, voters are permitted, in voting
for the Representatives, to cast one vote
each for. the three, one and. q half votes
each for two, or three votes for one. It is
assumed that the two political parties will,
under this provision, each nominate only
the number Of candidates its votes will
enable it to elect, leaving the opposing
party to nominate the number Of candi-
dates its votes will elect. Thus, if dis
trict has 5000 votes, Of which 900 are
Democratic, and GOO are Republican, in
electing three members, the $500 votes. if
concentrated upon oue man, are sure to
elect him, because the 6, 700 votes divided
among three candidates Will give them
only o,233 votes each To elect
one minority candidate among three,
therefore, it is only necessary that the MI
nority party shall have barely more than
nE &I,n koS, ia r. hrYr {ha
minority party is grasping, and attempts to
elect two candidates out of three, it Is liable
to lose its Representative altogether. For
instance, if the Republicans have $500
votes, and the Democrats $500 out of the
5000, the Republican vote, divided among
three candidates, will give them 1888 votes
each, while the Democratic vote, divided be-
tween two, will give them only 1,e5o each,
and Republicans exclusively viii be elected
At the same time, it is as dangerous for the
minority party to grasp more than they are
entitled to as for the minority. II, for IN
stance, out of total vote of 1900, the
Democrats have S, $50, and the Republicans
$3.50, if the Denocrats should attempt to
elect the three candidates, their votes, d.
vided among three, would give them only
1,7ss each, while the Republican vote, di-
vided between two, would give them I, S25
each, and thus the Republicans, though in
minority Of the popular vote, would get
two out of the three members
It may be assumed, therefore, that the
aim of both parties will be to nominate only
the number Of candidates to which their
| vote entities her in districts where the dis
| parity between their strength IS well
known and considerable In such dis
tr5cts, therefore, there viii be no party
strife, because neither party Will nominate
| candidates to run against those nominated
by the opposite party. Each party viii
| know that the candidate Zone or more)
which it non,inates viii be elected. In
such cases, the real strife for this particular
Office would be in the conventions Of each
purity, and not before the people at the
polls But this is equally SO under the
nresent system, with the difference that,
under the present system, the evil Of trans
fer1ing the contest from the people at the
polls to the nominating convention is ag-
rra1ated by the fact that the convention Of
the majority party really elects all the call
didates, while, under the proposed plan, 1t
only elects part. In most of the districts
of Southern Illinois, under the present sys-
TEN, the Democrats, though having q
majority Of only few hundred, would
nominate the Senator and all the Repre-
sentatives- Thus, in q district Of 5000
votes, if 4,499 we're Republican, and
= 4,5O1 were Democratic, the two
rotes which constitute the Democratic ma-
iority wonld elect all tie members, andone-
half the people would be unrepresented
Under the new system, aBwell as under the
present, in districts whose party mnjorihes
are large, there is, virtually, no contest a
J the polls on the immediate candidates run
ming. The only difference is that, undel
the present system, it is known in advance
that three members Of one party only VII
, be elected, while, undert the proposed sys
, TEN. it would be known in advance tha
, two of one party and one Of the othe
3 would be elected. In either case, the res
: choice of candidates would be made by tn
) nominating convention, and, IN elthe
5 case, nomination would
, equivalent to an election 1
the one case, the power and corruE
r ton would concentrate in one convention
t In the Other, it would divide between two
: But, in districts closely divided, both pa
< ties would nominate two candidates, hoE
ing to elect majority, and the party str1t
! would not be seusibly 1esseued.
n Mr.. John Bright, OF England, in speec
( tn his conetitne.at7, psier 10 A1so rFreoos
: session Of Parliament, opposed the s5ste'
of limited voting adopted there to secu1
= the representation Of minor1ties, and pr
: dicted its speedy and certain repeal h
$ onnosition vus based on the increased 9:
Q nenses OF election necessary to ensure tn
e every voter should cast his vote 80 as
9 elect the largest number Of Representative
Is ,,ossible for his party. There may be SOU
liability, under either the limited or cum
n 1ative system of voting, Tint the great po
J. n,o1itv Of one candidate of q party won
y detract from the votes necessary to eie
his colleague OF the same party. 1t viii
j. mart of the work OF the party managers
5 prevent such results. a.
81 The Justice of giving the two parties
T. each particular Legislative District .ae p
s. portion of Representatives, to WHICH 'ns
s, 1esnoct;ye votes entitle them, Is very q
L. vious. It's practical working is anotn
a question. The people are 50 accustom
g to the old system, and are so likely 70
in perplexed by the new, that 1t WILL
he course. encounter very great opposition
a