New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-03-07
- 40 1pPnRLLON.NENT.

As 10 APPORIIOhnENT
There never was scheme OF appoitlonn'"'
that satisfied everybody; neither WAS 'leie
ever scheme that did exact and equal JUS
tjce, Such partition will never he poSsioie
until the proyision in the Constitution when
guarantees to every county at least one
member shall be repealed, ana un'"
tho modern prejudice against quartefihA
the human form divine shall give way
to a Willingness to see an ihuehni''
number of citizens sawed in pieces so as to
make sure that no district has so much as one
bone more than another. The population
which a member actually represents Is prooaoi'
not the same in any two coun'es III
the State. or, if the Congressional ap-
nortionment is considered, in any NV"
states in the Union. Rivers MAKE
trouble. and so do mountain ranges, anu
boundary lines also are vexatlous Ana then'
somehow or other, whatever ratio oil represeh
tation |, chosen, a fraction always turns up,
winch is usually too large to be dlsregarueu
altopether and not large enough TO oe eh'tieu
90 re,rcsentation. The National apportlon-
ment i, comparatively an easy matter
for ,be number Of Congressman can oe
increased with the growth OF popuia-
ron. but the number of our Senators
and assemblvmcn Is fixed 10y the Constitution
and all the cutting and carving OF districts
,,,,g, Ina done within immovablc limits. There
,re only 80 Senators and l2S AsSem6iymeh
TO divide up among 90 counties, and the "oik
ot making this division Is 30 diiilcult, even
when attempted in thoroughly honest sPiilt'
that the best men may easily differ about H.
All these difficulties are enhanced by paiu-
san icalouslc. Each party Is anxious to get
and keep all it can. No doubt there are
Democrats who sincerely dispute the fairness
of MIR. Alvord> bill, which gives New
York % Assemblymcn; but what shall
we say of Mr.. Iialllday's bill, which gives
New-Yuik p Assembiymcn Eyen Inc
World saws OF it that - members are
too many" and The World is pretty good
Democratic authority. There are 30 counties
in the state which have one A,scmblyman
each. and whose representation, therefore,
caunot be reduced; Aew-lork ana hihs'
rountics have, under the apportionment
which has been in force since 1866, 80 As
sembymen. Thus at the present uihe' -
ont of the 80 counties which are chtiIcu
to more than one Assemblyman, have but
IS Assembymcn To represent thehi'
and these counties range along the whole
length and breadth of the State, containing
sucl cities as Buffalo. Rochester, SYRACUSE
Utica, Albany, Troy. Oswcgo, Poughkeepsie'
Long Island City, Kingston, Auburn, Water
town, and Hudson. They cover vast extent
of territory, and include within their limits
IN the State. Under mr. "4SiiHiGSSSin people people
4
members, these 2S counties would have but
! 81 A,sembymen; under Mr.. Alyords even,
| they would have but G3.
This does not Prove, and no one VIII at
| tempt to prove, that the great cities OF New
| York and Brooklyn should not have repre-
sentation as closely proportional to their rep
resentativc population a. II Is possible to make
without sacrificing to too great an extent the
! interests OF the other counties OF the state
! But it is evident that these cities can more
easily bear an injustice, If there is one, than
| the thinIy settled counties of the interior. The
| inn tbltants of these cities are clustered to-
! gcthcr IN a compact mass communication
between all parts of the little territory is easy
and instantaneous. These million and half
of people have the same local interests, read
the same newspapers. \ hOrSc-car will
| carry any constituent to his representative
Under Mr. Alvords bill Ncw-York Island and
n slice of Long Island ten miles in length will
| send 80 members To the Assembly, or
more than fourth of the whole number
when Mr. Halliday proposes that they shall
| send Al members or almost exactly one
| third of the whole number, 1t Is evident that
he does not sufficiently consider tie needs Of
the rural counties where the population is
| comparativey thin, and where there are many
! diverse and conflicting interests.
| But there is even a more important consider
alton than this. The rural counties and those
IN which the smaller cities are situated con-
tain a large share of our best population-the
most moral the most intelligent, the most
natriotic. taking the average. Ncw-Iork City,
where the vote of the educated classes is so
| completely overpowercd by the vote Of
the ignorant and the vicious. can bet
| fer do without vote or two IN
the Legislature than that one of these
communities should be deprived of it,
II il in these communities that the spirit of
prorress is strongest, and If, III the distribution
of political power, a choice must be made be-
tween them and the slums, ought t. At choice
TO be steadily and every time in favor of the
slums. as il would have to be to warrant Mr.
| iiaidays bill