New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-13
PART II.
APRlL13, 1892.
"FAIRn REINFORCEMENT.
AN OUTRAGE ON DECENCY.
THE PROPOSED CONGRESSIONAL REAPPOR-
TIONMENT A GERRYMANDEK PUkh
AND SIMPLE.

STRIKING INSTANCES WHERE THE DEMOCRATS
ARE TO HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OVER
THE REPUBLICANS AS REGARDS THE
POPULATION OF DISTRICTS.
,pooy rup prcr,AR CORRESPONDENT THE TEIBUSk
Albany. Arril l2.-It has been favorite dec
Iorat;on of Dc,nocratc newspapers and politicians
for tbo last TWO months that"a fair congress
e;onaI Annortionncnt bill would be passed. Gov
erpcr Flower was such conservative man, 1t was
said that lie would not permit any SerrSihanucr
Of the State 10 bc made. When, therefore, thc
bill for the rcGpportionment OF the CohSressiohai
districts was presented to the Legislature ABOUT
three weeks ago, there was unanimous agreement
in ,bc columns of the Democratic newspapers thai
Governor Flower had redeemed his pledge OF
fair apportionment." The Mugwump newspapers
also with an eye to having suihcieht hu'hper
If Democratic Congressman from this stare 10
holm continue the attacks the Mckinley Iarih
law. also expressed the opinion that the Dill was
as fairs a measure as could lie devised.
Rut il sccms that the bill was not Z" fair enough
for the Democratic politicians who are steering
Tho Democratic bark at Albany They rcmodeled
the bill few days ago. squeezing together Jew
moro Republican counties into rural Congressional
districts and contrving by this method 10 give
Erie County the home OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sleehan, two districts.
In this last manipulation of The bull, gerry
manGer appears with such clearness that 'ne
rcvered Mr. Gerry himself could not iall 10 oe
impressed with it, What should be the ra'lo Vi
population in each Congressional districo' d"
should be 1896 But this Dill mas oeeh 30
arranged that the average population OF ten Ooh-
eressionaI districts which are packed together
nnon Staten Island. Manhattan Island and IN
Westchester County. is only 1876 IL snouia
be stated that Richmond County lStaten lSia'u'
forms part of one of the New-Iork Clty uIstric'S'
and the same statement is true of Wesfchestcr
County. Thus these ten districts have popu-
Iaton below the proper ratio Is this because they
have been so arranged as 10 elect Democrats o'ny
N CONGRESS? Such districts should be contraStcd
u.itb tho pronosed new XXVIIIth District wherein
,ro contained the counties of Wayne, Cayuga,
Cortland. Ontario and Yates. This district looks
uron +bc man of the State like pair of saddle
has Of hinge proportion. Every one of these is
ponrbIican county, and they contain 2l3,l42
noonle. or 42.3O0 more people than are In the
average Democratic Congressional district III 'hc
City of Ncw-Yorl. There are 5000 more voters
IN ,bis district than there are in the average
New-YorlI district.
Tho same intention TO gcrrvmander The as
,ricts con lie observed in Kings County only ono
district OF tie five in that county is above the
ratio Of l73,A66, ard that has popuauoh Oh
174.741. or only q small number above the rauo'
orc BROOKLYN district has ONLY l6l ,437 popula-
tion another only lG3,4S7. Compared with the
XyVIIJth District, one of the Brooklyn districts
has 5l,7O5 less population, and 10000 fewer
voters.
Still another big Republican district il the
XXVIth. containing the counties OF Del1ware.
Chcnanco. Broome, Tioga and Tompkins, which
have a population OF 20oO74. Such district
as that should lie compared with the Democratic
XXXIId District in the city OF Buffalo, c'ntalh-
ipr only 1jS 0j7 persons. or 5l,Ol' less imam ire
XVIII District. There again there are 10000
fo,ve, voters in the Democratic district than there
are in the Republican. 1t will fc observed also
that this Buffalo district made by Mr. Sheehan
has 1j,4O9 less than the ratio Of l73,466
The Republican voters also have reason TO be
dissatisfied with the arrangement which gives
one CONGRESSMAN 10 Albany County, with only
1G4.555 population, and yet gives only one TO
the counties of Clinton, Franklin, Essex, warren
and Washington with total Of l9l,l5 di-
. ference of 26GOO in population and 1000 voters.
IT is preposterOus with districts 50 arranged -
contend that the bill is not gcrrymander OF thc
worst description. And it may be added 'Ia'
the districts have been illaTan2ed No'hlhg
could be worse than Congressional dlstfct WHO"
contains St. Lawrence County tied to saratoga
and Fulton and yet separated from both by TIC
big Adirondack, wilderness, covering the Couhty
Of Hamilton Tie politicians Of this district VIII
have TO travel 2jO miles to see each other'
ofance at the accompanying map will reveal tic
iniouity of this feature Of the case
But perhaps the best way TO show inc uls
parity in population between the various district
i. 10 give the figures Of the population cohtahe'
in each one The table below gives the popu'1
tion Of each of the proposed districts. as ,neS
have already been approved Of by the o'"''
Senate: