Daily camera., 1897-06-07
DELAWARE LAWMAKERS
The Most Curious Legislature in
the Country.
An Unusual Basis of Representation
Members Chosen Without
Reference to POpu-
latiOn.


Nowhere else in the United States is
there so peculiar and remarkable a
body of lawmakers as assemblies from
time to time in the inland town of Dover
to transact public business for the peo-
p!c of Delaware. Its peculiaritles need
only to be recited to show the primitive
methods which still endure in the first
of the states to be admitted into the
union.
What is known as the senate or upper
house of the Dover legislature consists
of nine members only. Delaware LIS one
Of the states which has no lieutenant
governor and therefore from out OF
:ihese nine members one is chosen as
presiding officer and the other eight are
the lawmaking body. a legislative
branch of eight persons is not formid-
able numerically. The basis of repre-
sentation for these members is SO I'M
usual that each Of the eight may be
said to represent very different num-
Der of persons. Delaware is divided
into three counties, the most populous
OF which is the northerly county of
Newcastle, which includes the city of
Wilmington. At the recent presiden-
tial election the vote of Newcastle was
22.O0O The second of the Delaware
counties is Kent, which includes the
capital city of Dover and cast at the re-
cent election 5000 votes only. The
rnird and most southerly of the COUP
ties is the rustic Sussex which cast at
.he recent election $500 votes. New
castle, it will be observed, has several
thousand more voters than Kent and
Sussex combined, but the basis of repre-
sentat1on in the Dover senate Is the
same for all three-three members
from each county, and on amy public
question, therefore, in the senate, a
minority Of the people of Delaware can
by q, two thirds majority outvote the
majority Nor is this the only peculiar
ity, for while two of the senators from
each county are elected for a two year
term one senator from each county is
elected for a four-year term. The city
of Wilmington casts about onethlrd OF
the total vote of the state of Delaware,
but it has only one representative in the
Dover senate. During the deadlock
caused by the failure of the Delaware
legislature to choose asuccessor to An
thony Higgins, th republican governor
of the state died, and, there being no
lieutenant governor, ono of the senators
was promoted to the post of executive
officer OF the state. While acting as
governor he claimed to still be mem
Der of the senate. The partisans of Col.
Dupont claimed that he could not hold
both offices and his withdrawal reduced
the members of the Delaware legisla~
tu1e, on joint ballot, to 20, Of whose
votes Col. Dupont received Is, or ma
iority, as his friends claimed. The op-
ponents of Col. Dupont. however, con-
tended that under the peculiar laws Of
delaware a man might be governor of
that state and senator as well, and
this view of the case was sustained in
Washington and Col. Dupont was not
admitted.
The Delaware house of representa-
tives consists of 81 members, chosen
WITHOUT reference 10 Eopuldlpol, seven
from each county, and though the repub-
Leans carried Delaware at The recent
election, such is the peculiar method of
choice that the present house of repre-
sentatives consists of 90 democrats and
l republican only. A convention to
amend the constitution OF Delaware
radically met in Dover in December
Chicago Chronicle.