New-York tribune., 1901-11-29
NOT 4 WOODEN NUTMEG.

That is not one of those proverbial but i'm
aginary wooden nutmegs" which is now under
consideration in the State OF Connecticut, and TO
deal with which constitutional convention
has been summoned. 1t is a particularly real
and tangible nut perhaps with rough burr
and a hard shell. but also with a sweet and
succulent kernel. which may be had II the nut
be rightly cracked. Ostensibly and technically
the issue concerns Connecticut alone. But in
higher sense it concerns every State in this
Union. and the Union itself, and involves in
vital measure the most essential and funda-
mental principles of representative government
For apart from and above ali others the para
mount question before the convention will be
whether representation in the legislature is to
remain as hitherto, based upon the integrity of
town units or is 10 be based upon actual popu-
lation.
From one point of view the traditional and
existing system seems incongruous. Under 1t
each town has one representative in the legis
lature and no more-excepting in few extreme
cases-regardess of its size. So the hundred
voters in one town have much representa-
ton and as much power in the legislature as
the thousand voters in another town. One man
in the one town counts for as much as ten men
in the other. That. it is easy to say. is not dem
ocratic and is not just. There is however. an
other point of view. We must remember that
the State. or tile Colony which preceded it. was
formed by a union OF towns peers. In those
early days the differences between towns in
point of population not great now.
The towns nearly equal and they came
together equals. Practically the town, and
not the individual voter. was the unit. the in
| tegral factor of the Colony and State. That is
to say. the State was formed d union of so
of ,iti
| And the question arises whether the towns have
not right to insist upon the maintenance of
| that original compact.
An instructive parallel is TO be found in the
| constitution of the United States and in the
| formation of this nation This nation is union
! of States and in the constitution of the United
| States Senate and some other important matters
the States are the units Of representation. Del
aware and Nevada count for as much as New
| York and Illinois. In the United States Senate,
| or in the election Of President by the House
| of Representatives, the 1900 voters of Della
| ware have as much authority as the 100000
| voters of New-York One man in Delaware is
| equal to thirty-eight men in New-1ork. There
| is an incongruity, or an injustice, at least as
great as that existing in the case of the Con-
necticut towns. Yet we do not suppose any
change in that system will ever be seriously
DrODOSe1 Even II II were III Wouiu De pTactl-
| caIly impossible And there is ground for argu
| ing that the same principle should be main
tanned in both The nation was formed on
| the basis Of integral and equal States, and the
State-in the case of Connecticut-was formed
| on the basis Of integral and equal towns; where
| fore the integrity and the equality of States
| and towns should be respected.
Illustrations and parallels might be sought
| elsewhere and be carried further. In New-Jer
sey for example, there is an equality OF coun
ties in the State Senate, that the 3,4O0 voters
| of Cape May elect one Senator. and the II, 900
| voters OF Essex elect only one; one man in the
| former county counting for more than twenty
| In the latter. Again, in all the States, in voting
| for officers who TO make and administer the
laws of property and taxation, the man who has
| no property and pays no taxes has one vote and
| the man who has millions of property and pays
| thousands year in taxes has only But
| there is prospect of changing that system
| If, therefore. the small towns of Connecticut
| shall insist upon the maintenance of the old
| system, under which they are the peers of their
| larger neighbors they will have plenty OF prece
dents for their action and they will not be iIlog