River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1882-04-06
RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN. THURSDAY. APRIL $751;
THE APPoRTI0NMENT

| HiIc tH eAdCtly proper dppOIttoH-
ment of State into Congressional,
Senate and Assembly districts may
not be practicable there is no reason
to doubt that the apportionment re-
Gently made by the Wisconsin legiS-
lature might have been greatly inn
| proved. A Democratic writer of Mil
waukee comedies that the Congress
sional apportionment looks like an ex-
ceedingly liberal one towards the
Democrats. as he counts but five of
the nine districts surely Republican,
from which we infer that there will
be no charge that the Republicans
have taken an unfair partisan advan-
tage. The State journal, which is
usually very cautious in it's criticisms,
referring to the Congressional appor-
tionment says: "The combination of
counties in districts is somewhat OBJ
jectionable. The shape of some of
them is unnecessarily bad. We say
unnecessarily, as they might have
been III better shape without disturb
ing politics in the least. This bad
combination of counties, and lshap-
ed districts, is, no doubt, the result OF
individual or SELLS h schemes to so ar
range districts as to make reasonably
sure seat in Congress for one or
more aspirants. The sentence last
quoted was center shot at VIM. i.
Price, of Jackson county, the control
ling spirit in framing the Congress
sional apportIonment bill, and he
shaped it with view to pushing his
way into Congress. 1t would be a fit
ting rebuke to that gentleman for sub
ordinating all other interests in this
matter to his own consuming desire
to go to Congress, if the Republicans
of the new Eighth District would
unite upon Hon. II. B. Warner as their
candidate for Congress. Concerning
Mr.. Warner as a possible candidate
and his availability should he consent
to become one we shall hereafter take
occasion to speak.
In the formation of Senate districts
more or less axes were ground and it
seems TO us as though one of them
must have been sharpened when the
Twenty-iifth district, of which this
county forms a part, was blocked out.
This district is composed of the coun-
ties of Eau Claire, Pepin and Pierce,
with population as follows: Eau
Claire, l9,902; Pepin, 1925; Pierce,
l7,744. Total, 1882. AS the ratio is
but 80, 1858 the counties named contain
the requisite numbers, with 1900 to
spare. This being an odd numbered
district Senator will be elected here
in next November for the term of
four years as provided by the consti-
tutional amendment adopted at the
last general election. Dunn county
was placed in an even numbered dis
trlct and Senator Flint will become
the representative IN the Senate of
Chippewa county instead of Eau Claire
and Pierce, after the first Monday in
January next.
As an illustration of the Irregular
ty of the Assembly districts we will
say that Pepin county with her popu-
lation of 6. 226 has been given the
same representation in the Assembly
as Waukesha county with her popula-
ton of 2S,957; the same as La Crosse
with her 27,072; the same as Eau
Claire with her 1902; the same as
St. Croix with her 1886; the same as
Pierce with her 7,744. The ratio is
Is, l54, from which it will be seen that
Pepin county contains less than half
the requisite number upon this basis
to entitle her to a member.