The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-05-07

party which toisyates saA SaassIi.ie9 a,
it's public Representatives.; .rtalks tho
then1mAH. tho resnlsSis merely po.
faiti$al dlsruAtion, let .us be profoundly
fthankfdt Aet us make haete 10 prevent
ut ff4m being social disruption. the SUN.
!flerthg of att bonds which make society
Iand governtdent possible. Several emil
nent citizens, ns well ae the press OF our
State, have suggested plans Tor the ameli.
oration of present evils. Mr. Men,minger
and Col. Rion, especially. deserve men
tion Us gentlemen OF lnrgo ability md
infuencet who have made their contri-
buttons to- the cause. Without discuss
ing the plans proposed by those gentle
men. or pointing out the impossibiiity OF
putting such plans into practical execu-
ton, I proceed to express my conviction
that there is remedy, ut once simple
and effioacious, practicable aud still radi-
cal. mean the change OF our present
system OF the representation Of mnjori,
ties merely. and the substitution Of pro-
portional representation, or as it is moro
commonly called, minority representa-
tion, by means of the cumulative or free
vote. You know, Of course, TINT there
is no novelty in this remedy. The press
Of our State. cspe Gully the Charleston
Ne,cs aud the Columbia PHOENIX, as we'll
as individuals, have discussed aud advo-
Gated it. have studied tho matter, in
its principles and it's results, as q theory
and as n practice. l have waited to ex-
press my conviction until could at least
satisIy myself OF its practical efficacy ns
present remedy. My examination
lends me to give my unrcserved support
to the plan, and to believe that il will
lay the foundation for stable peace in
our State.
discussion of. this subject in its pfinci-
abnndantly in John Stuart Mill on
Representative Government" iu the
debates in the English Parliament, in
1867. by Chancellor Lowe, Lord Cnirns,
Earl Grey and Mr. Mill: in the very able
| and elaborate report Of Senator Buckn :.
lew, OF Pennsylvania, made to the United
States Senate, in March, 1868, aud, I
am happy to add, in an address delivered
before the students of Wofford College,
in Jnne last. by Col..J. P. Thomas, of
our own State, where will be found an
admirable resume of the history and ma
ture Of the plan, enforced by many new
and effective arguments. AS o study
merely to one who is attracted By dis
cussions Of the great questions OF Re-
publican Government, few topics have
greater oharms; but of all this must
not speak. The plan is briefly this: To
| give to each voter as many votes as there
are Representatives, to be elected III his
County OF voting district, and allow him
to cast them all for one candidate, or di-
j vide them among several as be pleases.
Thus. to take;the illustration Of another
| aud apply it to case within our own
State: "rhe County of Charleston has
eighteen Representatives in tho lower
house Of tho Legislature; each voter has
eighteen votes; he MAY give theh to
| eighteen candidates-one to eaoh-or he
may cumnlate them upon q less number
than ten, even to one. One.eighteenth
OF the voters may thus be sure Of Rep
resentative, if they choose to unite upon
one person. In practice. however, no
doubt, tickets would be made up by the
two parties, and each party would send
Representatives merely proportioned to
it's constituency.
Such is the plum. It's result would be
to give to each party in our State rep
resentation In our lower house Of As
more than one person was to be chosen,
RAoPoALA LAobSA W. Apo hoL4S1iCul 6tIcuHlut
instead, as now. of ignoring the minority
wholly, and giving to q majority made
up of one hundred and one the sole rep.
resentstion in voting district Of two
hundred voters. This is true republi-
oanism, in distinction from false repub-
licanism. AS Col. Thomas aptly styles
it, it is "totality representation. giving
to all parties aud all interests fair share
Of representation. To make this princi-
Pile applicable to all our elections, would
require some changes in our organic
law, but it would be Immediately nppli-
cable to elections for members of tho
lower house OF the Legislature, to cleo
tions ior County Commissioners, and to
the Senatorial election in CLnrleaton
County. think no change OF our Con.
stitutlon is required to effect all this, but
simply statute embodying and enforc-
ing the new plan.
The immediate result of such change
will bo immense. If the numerical re-
lations OF our present political parties
and of the two races is that OF three to
five, the lower house of the Legislature
will stand about forty-seven to seventy.
seven. The samo result would be seen
in tha boorf1a of Goupty Hop, o,,x,