Daily Republican., 1884-04-21
A Great WoFk for the Republican
PARTY IN do

A Great Wsrk for the kepablican
Party 10 do,
The State Convention being over and
the delegates to Chicago selected the
work OF the Republican party for the
campaign is only begun. There is no
State in the Union where there 10 a
greater work for the Republican party
to do t han in Delaware. There is no
State in the Union where political re-
generation and reform aremore needed.
The greater reform needed is equality of
representation in the law making body
Of the State. Where one political party
gets the power and keeps it through
an unequal and unjust representation of
the people the temptation to use that
power for partisan ends and purposes
is SO tempting that it is seldom resisted.
Through an apportionment, once
just and equal, but which is now unjust
and unequal, how stands Delaware to-
day?
New Castle County with q popula-
ton of eighty-five thousand inhabitants
has ten members of the Legislature.
Kent and Sussex Counties combined
seventy thousand population has twen-
ty members of the Legislature. New
Castle County as a general rule is Re-
publican in politics, would always be
so on fair and honest assessment, and
Kent and Sussex Counties are always
Democratic.
Supposing New Castle always to
elect the Republican ticket, she would
elect ten Republican members
of the Legislature, and supposing Kent
and Sussex Counties always to elect
twenty Democratic members, as they
always do, the Legislature would stand,
ten Republicans and twenty Democrats
and twenty outvotes ten all the time.
Had New Castle County equal repre-
sentation in the Legislature with Kent
and Sussex, instead of ten representa-
tives she would have twenty-four.
While the proportion of population to
one representative in Kent and Sussex
is three thousand five hundred, in New
Castle it is eight thousand five hun
dred. Pursuing this subject little
further it will be seen that there are
fifty thousand people in New Castle
County, just one-third the population
of the State, that have no voice in the
law making power of the State. If the
rural districts of New Castle County
had equal representation with Kent
and Sussex Counties, out of the number
of representatives allotted to that coun-
ty, the city of Wilmington would not
have single member of the Legisla-
ture. Senator Bayard the great apostle
Of local self government, could, in that
C Use, look down from his palatial resi-
d nee at Clayton and Maple streets, upon
n city that contains fifty thousand dis
franchised subjects. If the people had
BEEN equally represented in the Legisla-
ture the brilliant Senator, who has his
eye fixed upon the Presidential chair,
instead of tillinga seat in the Senate of
the United States, would have been but
a prominent lawyer in his own ~
Are these things not true? Let any
ia ir minded candid man give the ques-
ton that thought that it deserves, and
he will find that We have not exagger-
ated.
Who is to correct these outrages upon
the people? We answer, the Republi-
can party of the State. The Democrats
have had the opportunity tocorrect them,
but instead of doing so they have only
riveted the chains of political servility
the tighter upon their limbs. This is
one thing, then, that the Republican
party has to do, and which it will and
can do reinforced by honest Democrats,
who love justice more than party.
But there is other work to accom-
plish in the way of reform by the Re
publican party. The life terms of the
Judges of the State, something laughed
at and secuted by the advanced and in
telligent sentiment of thecountry, should |
be abolished. The Democratic party
has been in power uninterruptedly for a
quarter of century, and has not cor
nected this fossilized evil of midaval
times. But there is more work for the
party to do. The people
should say who should be their county
officers and their State officers other
than the Governor, rather than to de-
pend upon Governor to choose them
for them.
But there are legions of other evils
that the Republican party will have to
correct, amongst which are the outra-
geous assessment laws of the State, the
10 Ia In yxyin ,et tIa
pie, as expressed at the local elections
in Wilmington, by commissions ap-
pointed by partisan Legislatures. All
these will have to be checked by the |
Republican party. 1t can be done by
the party if every Republican in the
State will put forth little energy. Now
that there is no farther cause for con-
tention and division in the party will
not every Republican in the State do
his duty.
Mr.. JAMES l.. HAWKINS, rather
than to be longer kept in suspense, has
handed in his resignation as Chief of
Police to Mayor Wales, the latter ac-
cepting the resignation. We We're
amongst the large number Of those who
believed that the chief should have been
re-instated, but we are not the Mayor
of the city, and we would not dictate
his course in matter which concerned
him more than any one else. There is
one thing, however, that we would call
the Mayors attention to, and that is
that as he is attempting to improve the
morals of his force he can make big
stride in that direction by checking the
outrageous profanity of which some Of