New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-03
THE APPoRTIoNuENT PROBLEM

In his message urging the passage of new
appOrtiOnment law the Governor expressed no
opinion on the contention that the present Sen
ate must under any circumstances hold over I'M
til January. 1909. In this he showed practical
wisdom, for his main purpose was to secure
redistribution of representation, in accordance
with which elections of members of either house
might be held they became necessary. No
one will dispute the fact that an Assembly must
be elected next November, and it would be II
serious reflection on the capacity and good faith
of the present Legislature if, owing TO its neg
ligence, a new lower house should have to be
chosen the basis OF the outgrOwn constitu-
tiOnal appOrtiOnment Of 1894 That appOrtiOn-
ment based on the federal census of 1870
SO that we should be using for election purposes
an enumeration seventeen years Od-an enumer
alton also grossly misrepresenting the distrbu-
ton of voting power as 1t exists to-day. TO ad-
nit of q constitutional Encouragement OF Assem-
bly, districts in the more populOus counties ne.V
Senate districts must first be created. for no
Assembly district can lap over from one Senate
district into another. The main thing, therefore,
is to secure complete redstricting of the state,
so that an Assembly representing voting power
as at present constituted can be chosen in No
vember, whether Senate is to be chosen
then or not.
This secondary question can be better settled
after an apportionment bill has been enacted.
The decision of the Court of Appeals will prob
ably have TO he further interpreted before the
situation becomes entirely clear. The court held
that the present Legislature could exercise dc
fGcto powers until successor. chosen in accord
ance with constitutional apportonment, had
come into being. The actions of the present
houses are valid er neceSSitate, but it does not
follow that for their de fdctO power dc jure
power should not be substituted soon as
fitting oppoi unity presents Itself. The state
administration, taking counsel with the courts,
will have to decide eventually, if a appor
tonment is made before next November
whether such opportunity exists and should
be embraced for eecting new Senate as well as
a new Assembly If the Senate IS exercising its
functions merely on sufferance, it would seem
safer, juster and more desirable from practical
point of view 10 replace it with body acting in
its own right and not stamped judicialy as a
political makeshift.
The Governor was also wise IN emphasizing in
his message the limitations on legislative discre-
ton imposed by the apportonment sections of
the constitution. The constitutional provisions
are minute and cumbersome. and, while hedging
discretion in many directions, compel its exer-
else in many others. But. Governor Hughes
quotes pertinently from Judge Chases opinion
"As the discretion OF the Legislature relating to
Cle ieidllNe hunbeI vi lludpllants III celldle
districts arises from necessity 1t should cease
where the necessity for discretion ends" The
strictest possible adherence to the population
test is the normal and equitable procedure. Pub
lie opinion has learned to frown on the abuses
of apportionment, and the courts 10 be com
mended for insisting on more rigid accounta-
bility in this respect the part of legislatures.
The Supreme Court Of Kentucky recently multi
fed apportionment law because Of it's gross
abuse of legislative discretion. Enlightened sen
timent demands fair play in such matters, and
the Legislature will do well TO heed the Gov
ernor's suggestion that In reapportioning repre-
sentaton it should in no way be guided by "per-
sonal preference or individual interests"