The workingman's advocate., 1870-05-14

SPEECH OF MR.. MEDILL BEFoRE TINE CON.
sTITUTIoNAL CONVENTION or NJ.

! Mr.. MEDILL. Mr.. President In
the original report the article on minor
iIy representation consisted Of five Sec
tons, and provided for minority represen-
atO1 IL bctS me Senate ana He'Sssss H'ss & e. Iss
representatives.. After mature reflection and
consultation with the members of the com
tnittee, concluded to draw a substitute,
which is much briefer, consisting Of three
short sections and restricting this expert
ment to one house instead Of two. It was
objected by number Of friends Of the pro-
position, with whom / conversed, that the
original report was little too complex for
ipopular comprehension, and covered rather
too much ground, and that it would be bet
tier to present the article to the public in
THE very simplest form and confne it to
Sone house 30 with that view, and for that
purpose, the substitute was prepared. 1t
lprovides that the apportionment Of the
State for members Of the Senate shall be
made by the General Assembly every ten
years, beginning with 1871, on the basis Of
the whole population, as ascertained by the
federal census. That section is simply in
accordance with the legislative article al
ready adopted, and is in the same words
The second section provides that
The house Of representatives shall consist ol
three times the number Of the members @of the
senate and the term of office shall be two vears.
Three representatives shall be elected in each
senatorial district at the gen al election in the
year A. D. 1872, and every two years thereafter
In the legislative article we have provid
| ed that the house shall consist Of three
times the number Of the senate and in
addition to that certain members for frac
tons are assigned to various counties en-
titled to them, bnt as we have struck out Of
the legislative article, all representation fol
senate Aoaters," this article is made tC
correspond precisely with that senate pro
vision. The senate districts will be large,
and very few of them will have much over
their proper ratio, consequently it is not
necessary to provide for " fioaters" in this
article. The proposition, therefore, is q
very simple one and easy Of comprehension.
In each senatorial district there shall be
elected three members of the house Of re-
presentatives. That viii give q house Of
one hundred and ffty-three members. And
the last proposition in regard to the mode Of
voting provides, that
I'm all elections Of representatives afore-
said each qualified voter may cast as many votes
| for one candidate as there representative
to be elected, or may distribute tie same, OF
1 equal parts thereof, among the candidates, al
| he shall see fit, and the candidates highest Ia
vote shall be declared elected
This would confer upon each voter the
power Of casting three votes for one candi
date, or one vote for each of three candi
dates, or one and half votes for each Of
two It gives him three choices without
loss of electoral power. The effect is tO
enlarge the power and influence Of the voter
instead Of restricting him. lie will 7ote for
three representatives If he chooses, but be
viii not be obliged to lose twO-thirds o
bis vote if he opposes two Of the candidatse.
If there are three candidates before him he
may throw two aside, and cast all his vote
for one, or divide it equally between them.
The plan is not only exceedingly simple
and easily understood by the cOmmonest
understanding, but it is entirely practical
in it's operations. 1t is in the direction Of
great and bene6cient reform in govern
ment. The leading minds Of the world
are canvrssing this question earnestly and
thoughtfully. 1t has in England no less
an advocate than John Stuart Mill, besides
thousands Of other Statesmen and writer's
The best minds of France and Germany
are seriously pondering this reform in re-
presentation and in Switzerland it is al
ready adopted in some of the cantons
Two years ago Senator Buckalew and
seven or eight other senator's, including
Wade Of Ohio and Morton Of Indiana,