The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1896-06-12
REMEDY FOR LEGISLATIVE EVILS.

REMEDY EOR LEOlSLAllNE EVILS.
Professor John r. Cummins, of the
Syracuse University, has written book
on Proportional Legislation. He points
out that the legislative bodies of the
United States, whether Congress or
State Legislatures are reviewed, are I'M
satisfactory and not representative of
the full people, and contrasted with
the past are eminently deteriorating.
The task of governing today is far
more complex than it was in the past.
The, great corporations have arisen,
with enormous resources, and large
classes of manual laborers have been
enfranchised, who are fertile soil for
machine politicians and demagogues.
Voters see little of each other, have few
interests in common, and depend on
some outside person to do their think
ing for them.
The district system" comes under
the Professors criticism He says:
I'VE have now been able to follow the
various evil phases of recent American
political life directly or remotely to-
their root in the system of electing, sin
gle representatives from limited dis
tricts-a system which we have inherit
ed unchanged through six centuries of
political and social evolution. At the
present time, when political parties
based on social questions divide the
people and seek representation, we are
using system of representation based
on locality. The political parties in
evitably seize upon this machinery and
use it for party ends. Thus violently
distorted, it represents neither sections
nor parties. Instead it has divided the
people in every district into two camps, |
each dictated by its own party ma
chine and spoilsmen.,
"These two machines are often leag- |
ued together. Professor Bryce has
pointed out the community of interests |
which exists between them on occasionl
Of Independent reform movements,
when they actually combine against the
reformers. Hence comes hope
lessness and apathy of the better
classes of citizens. Hence also come
those violent explosions and Mysteries
If reform, those popular uprisings, /
which occasionally break down the bar
'iers of machine rule, but relapse again,
Ho a mob in, NIT fr4n rhal
and inequality in the rep
'esentation of parties are bad enough,
)ut the deadly evil of the system is the
expulsion of ability and public spirit
rom politics, and the consequent die
atorship of bosses and private corpo-
u
To remedy this, proportional repre3e
entation is proposed. He claims that II
proportional representation promises
he independence of the voter and free
ON from the rule of the party machine
What proportional legislation is may
'e gathered from the following pro-
'isions of bill proposed by the Am
rican Proportional Representation
league. 1t provides that
ANY party or body of voters which
oiled at the last preceding city cleo L
ion one per centum of the total vote ,
asst for the principal Office filled at ,
aid election, or which shall present a
domination paper signed by voters
quail in number to such percentage Tor
y the number specified in the law of {
he State concerned), may nominate a ,
icket or list of any number of candi-
ates for said Board of Aldermen, not
D exceed the total number of persons
D be elected to said board Each voter r
hall have as many votes as there are
ersons to be elected, which he may
istribute as he chooses among the can
idates, giving not more than one vote t
, any one candidate, votes thus spe- il
ideally given to be known as indi- :
idual votes;;' and each such vote shall :
,unt individually for the candidate re-
Giving the same and for the ticket to t
hich the candidate belongs
People are always proposing legisla- il
We panaceas. Anything that will tend o
} raise the tone of politics is a step in a
lie right direction. Wherever the pro- Il
>rtional system has been tried it has p
ct with fair success. a