Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-05-30
0be Eaufaster 1ntelligc,.fcr.
LANCASTER, MAY 80, 1856.
The Vetoed Apportionments.

The Vetoed Appointments.
The governor presents strong reasons for
refusing his approval to the congressional
and legislative apportionment bills. He
could not, with a due regard for his con-
victions as to a proper apportionment OF
the state, sign bills so violently partisan
and unfair as these. He possesses, in an
equal measure with the majority of the
legislature, the right and power to shape
legislation. In this case he stands face to
face with the Republican majority and re-
fuses his approval to its laws. He will
unquestionably be sustained by the mem
bers Of his own political party IN the legis-
lature, and the result is likely to be fail
ure of apportionment until another legisla- |
ture assemblies
It is certainly lamentable that fair legis- |
lation cannot be had when party interests
are at stake; and it is especially wrong
that party spirit should warp the action OF
legislators so far as to cause the passage OF
measures SO intensely unfair as these bills.
A certain degree of party bias may be per-
mitted to legislators, from whom perfect
impartiality is not to be looked for. But
reasonable decency ofaction would not have
brought forth from the legislative womb
such monsters of unfairness as the
apportionment bills which the governor
vetoes. And while he may be subject to
party bias, he has no opportunity OF show
ing it in refusing his assent to measures
which no fair-minded Republican can
claim to be fair. They do not carry out
the spirit Of the constitution, nor even its
letter. They do not district the state into
contig1 kAistricts of as equal population
as possible, but fall SO very far short OF
S0his result as to demonstrate that the
Republican legislators had not the intent
to effect it.
They manifest1y strive to district the
state se-as 70 win the largest possible num-
ber of Republican districts and to this
end have massed the Democratic voters OF
the state together in overgrown districts,
and divided the Republican voters among
small districts, so as to make, the governor
saws, but seven certainly Democratic dis
tricts in the congressional delegation OF
tho state. IT is probable that he has under
stated .be lumber Of districts that will
pe secured to the Democrats under
the bill; bat the difference Of q
district or two does not materially change
the obie. lion to bill that it certainly gives
to the Republican party preponderanct
of the districts grossly disproportioned t.
the prep0nderance of their vote in the
state.
The governor calls special attention tt
the fact that in Philadelphia all the Demo
cratic wards are collected together to make
district which will be overwhelmingly
Democratic, with the result that all the
other Philadelphia districts are made safely
Republican. The intent was clearly to pro
duce this result. The Democratic districts
were not gathered together in one fold t.
obey the constitutional mandate to make
the district of contiguous territory; all tht
wards of Philadelphia were at hand ready
to furnish the material for districts that
would be contiguous and fairly representa-
tive of the political sentiment of the people
OfPhiladelphia. The legislature in assigning
one Democratic and five Republican con-
gressmen TO Philadelphia evidently did moi
discard all political considerations in the
apportionment, which are discarded in the
constitution and it cannot he claimed on
their behalf that the governor should have
avoided the contemplation of such con.
siderations They have with great care
massed the Democratic voters where they
win do the least harm and
the governor is clearly right to
say to them that, if they will
apportion the state according to the poll
tics of the voters, they should see to it that
they give to each party somewhere near
that strengh of representation in the leg
islature and in Congress which they show
in their total vote in the state.
In one criticism the governor seems to
have gone wrong. He says that
Lancaster county, which has two
state senators, because it has the
proper ratio for one and three-fifths
of aratio for another, should be constitu-
tionally divided so as to give one senator
to the full ratio and one to the remainder
Of its population. Here the governor for
gets the Injunction Of the constitution, to
which he elsewhere refers as the very life
of the apportionment it prescribes, that the
districts should be made as nearly alike as
possible in population. As the constitution
gives Lancaster two senators, the popula-
ton Of the county should be divided as
equally as possible to make the districts of
each. The constitution gives to each coun-
ty, having more than one senatorial ratio,
representative for each ratio, and one for
remainder exceeding three-ffths of ratio.
The representation is given to the county,
separately and not to the ratio and to the
three-ffths Of a ratio and if there is any
doubt as to this construction, 1T is solved by
the constitutional injunction, to make the
districts as equal as may be in their size.
A Jury Not TO Hang.
The Italian Onnfri who was found