The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1872-12-21
Minority RepFesemtatlOn---Its
Trialim Illinois.
lChicaGO Post.

The scheme of minority or personal
representation was tried in Illinois on
Tuesday ON the election of the lower
house of the Legislature, and as this is
about the first trial of the experiment,
involving any serious interest, it is
worth while to examine she result and
see whether the new system justified
the authorizations of its friends.
Those ZealOts who always burden
every proposed reform with their I'M
serviceable enthusiasm announced that,
if the principle of minority representa-
tatiOn could once be enforced, it would
prove a panacea for all social ills, and
usher in a political Utopia where every
righteous candidate would be elected
and every voter would be happy. OF
| course this anticipation was absurd.
The more reasonable and philosophical
Of the advocates of this reform claimed
for it only four prominent merits :
First-That, generally adopted, it
would give to every man a representa-
| tive in every deliberative body; that
is, that every maj would vote for a
successful candidate; whereas, under
the old system, tWO-ifths Of all the
people were unrepresentcd, and might
as well have been disfranchised alto
gether. Under the old system not less
than two hundred thousand voters in
Illinois were thrown practically out of
politics, and were not the constituents
of any member of the Legislature. 1t
was claimed that this would be rene
died, and that every voter would be
one of the constituents of somebody.
Secondhand it would give a major
ity of a party the power to emulate
their votes and elect the MAJ of their
choice, thereby defeating an unworthy
caucus nominee without insuring the
election of a political opponent.
Third-That, by increasing the IA
~cilities for boiling unsatisfactory can,
didates, it would compel the nomina-
ton of the best men, and thereby i'm,
prove the texture of legislative bodies
FOurth-That it would insure each
party a representation prOpOrtiOned tC
its actual strength, instead of enabling
the majority party in a State to monOp,
Ollie all the offices.
In the election of Tuesday, minority
representation scarcely obtained a fail
trial, for every man had to vote fo1
thirty or forty candidates for various
offices, and, under the spur of warn
partisan feeling, voters found neither
time nor inclination to discriminate
largely or to take advantage of thu
cumulative privilege i'll casting thei
ballots. The members of the majority
party in a district generally cast on
and a half votes each for two men, an(
the members of a party largely in
minority three votes for one man.. Ger
mans and Irish often cumulated thei
three votes Qua candidate OF their ma
tivity or way Of thinking, as did tn,
temperance men i'll securing the cleo
800 A1,n4n 4pSn1NIS IN NM +cro&I
of the ballots were cast as they hat
been prepared in caucus.
This did not, however, entirely de
prive the law of it's efficiency. As til
returns come in it is certain that ever,
voter in Illinois is represented i'll tn
/ Legislature for the first time in on
history. In the very strongest Repub
lican districts one of the three Repre-
sentatives elect is a Democrat; in tn
strongest Democratic districts n is
Republican. The existence of this lay
T compelled the withdrawal of severa
bummers and dead-beats from bot
t tickets before election day. If the
had not withdrawn they would hav
been defeated.
, The two parties are now justly repre-
| scented for the first time. The Stat
Senate stands "a Republican to II Lib
eral, the House "a Republican to SO Lii
eral, which represents pretty nearly tn
true proportion of the two parties inthi
: State. -
No harm has resulted, then, so ia
: from the introduction of this odd il
fernal machine, while it may be cor
ceded that, in the juster representatiO
t of the contending parties and in givin
: to every voter a practical voice in les
islation, it has effected a positive goOC