Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-07
MINORITY REPRESENTATION.
Ex-senator BuckaleW's Discussion Of
the Subject.

In and out of Congress the subject OF
Proportional Representation has receiv-
ed thoughtful and attentive cOnsidera-
ton and advocacy from Ex-senator
Buckalew. OF course, he did not Origi-
nate it, nor has he made any pretense
thereto; on the contrary, he quotes ID.
III a passage from a speech, in a debate
on the reform bill of 1881, delivered by
the late w. NJ. Praed, parliamentarian
and poet. to the following effect:
at We desire that the representatives
Of a numerous constituency should come
hither merely as witnesses of the fact
that certain opinions are entertained by
the majority of that constituency, our
present system Of election (by the vote
of the, majority is certainly rational,
and members are right in their repro
baton Of acOmpromise, becauseit would
diminish the strength Of the evidence to
a fact we wish to ascertain. But if we
intend, as surely we do intend, that not
the majority only, but the aggregate
masses Of a very numerous constituency,
should so far as possible, be seen in the
persons and heard in the voices of their
representatives-shOuld be, in short, in
the obvious literal sense of the word,
represented in this house-then, sir,
our present rule Of election is in the
DRY wrong and absurd, and in practice
is but partially corrected by the admis-
sion of that compromise on which 50
much virtuOus Indignation has been
wasted"
Other foreign Legislators have taken
the same position. In 1854 Lord John
Russell declaredt that "many advantages
would attend the enabling the minority
to have a part in these returns" (of mem
bers of the House Of COmmons). Though
VIGOROUSLY inconsistent, saying a thing
to-day and ~contradicting it tomorrow,
Russell repeated this opinion in 1865, in
the last edition of his Essay on the Brit
ish Constitution, and declared that, in
common justice, there ought to be repre-
sentatives Of the minority in large and
pOpulOus counties and towns; and again
in 1867, when be supported the amend
ment moved by Lord Cairns on D'Isra-
ellis reform bill, and now embodied in
that great measure. Minority repre-
s~entatiOn was strongly advocated by
Earl Grey in his work on Parliamentary
Government, publishedim 1864; by John
Stuart Mil, at various dates since 1859,
and during the reform bill debates %
1867, by various members of the House
Of Lords, who supported Lord Cairns's
amendment, finally adopted, that Eat
any contested election for any county or
borough represented by three members
person shall vote for more than two
candidates. Mr.. Lowe supporting the
proposal which Mr.. Gladstone and Mr..
opposed ia the House Of Com
mons. As early as February, 1852, Mr..
Buckalew first gave publicity to his
views on the subject of minority repre-
sentation OPP 287-295) which he subse-
quently expressed at length in the
United States Senate in 1853, and. since
then, in the State Senate at Harrisburg. |
II Dersons elected to represent constit-
uencies in public assemblies-whether
Federal, State, or municipal-wOuld only
honestly do their duty by the whole con
stituency, instead Of representing mere
ly the interests or the feelings of the
party which chose them, there would be
little occasion, if any, for agitating the
principle Of minority representation, be-
cause each would represent, not a party,
however numerous, but all parties.
Strictly speaking, a representative, once
should look after the interests
and attend to the wishes Of those who
voted against as well as Of those who
voted for him in a word, represent all.
But such a state of perfection not having
vet been attained, to our knowledge, by
the members Of any legislative BODY,
general or local, the subject of minority
representation may be advantageOusly
entertained; all the more so, because
he principle was practically tested, only
short time since, at the election Of the
National Education Board, in London,
With a success which has been univer-
ally acknowledged, and was, indeed,
he triumph Of cumulative voting. The
iame was the case when this principle
vas lately applied in Pennsylvania.
Assuredly, it seems hard that if con-
Itituency, say Of'nine thousand, should
slect representatives by five thousand,
he remaining four thousand votes
be practically unrepresented. 1t
s calculated that, on the average, two
ifths of the voters at contested elections
IRE thus virtually DISTINGUISHED because
hey are ia a minority. What is pro-
)osed is that the minority should have
Is Representatives as the majority has.
What Mr.. Buckalew wrote and spoke on
he subject, as collected in this volume,
the whole case ably and clearly.
other subjects are treated Of the most
important being a constitutional amend
nent proposed for Presidential electors,
a Pennsylvania, and the Columbia
plan of nomination. The book
very opportunity, when the
pennsylvania Constitutional Convention
5 IN session, with the power of examin-
ng and legislating on the theories set
orth.