Norwich bulletin., 1911-03-01
GOVERNOR BALDWIN
 SPEAKS AT ROCKVILLE
criticises Present District Lines Be-
 fore Business Men's Association.

Rockville. Conn, Feb. 2S-At the an- nual dinner of the local business mems association here today, Gov. Simeon E. Baldwin vaas one of the principal speakers. Governor Baldwin said:
 The Governors Address.
 Connecticut is small in size, but she is small in nothing else. Where is the country to which her manufac- lures do- not go? And what are the kind of manufactures she sells most of in foreign lands? The kind which contain the least of raw material and the most of the best American labor operating the best American machin- cry.
 We do not produce our raw material We make more brass goods, I believe, than any other state, but there is no copper mine in Connecticut that is worth working. We manufacture cot ton, but we raise none; woolen, but and steel into new shapes, but we buy the metal.
 Good Factory Workmen Here <. One of our large manufacturers once told me that the advantage of Con- necticut over other states, as a man ufacturing center, was that she had larger proportionate population of good factory workmen, who were at- tached to their homes: who felt them
 
 of the community; and who were not apt to move away.
 We may also be proud of Connecti- cut history. She invented, in 1639, the written constitution to regulate civil government. She invented soon after. the referendum of important (nof un. importantly matters to the peepIe. She invented, little later. the direct pri- mary. One would think, to hear some of our western fellow citizens talk, that tho west had discovered it. Not at all. The ancient way for Connec- ticut to elect her states senators Cor assistants" as she called them, be- cause they were assistants to the gov ernor in carrying on the government. and her congressman (of whom she had seven), was to nominate twenty senators and fourteen congressman by direct primary. and then, six months later, for each man in the state to vote on general statewide ticket, for the twelve of the nominees for the senate and the seven of the nominees for congress whom he preferred
 Return to Way of Our Fathers.
 Some of you may remember that in my inaugural message I recommended an amendment to our constitution, un- der which, as to the senate, we could return to this ancient way, and again nominate our senators on a general ticket, to be voted for by the people at large? Why not go back to the ways of our fathers in this respect ? It is not so very long since we aban- doned it. One of the representatives in this general assembly, from this county, MT. Johnson of Ellington, is eighty-four years old. I was, in h:s childhood that Connecticut adopted the unfortunate amendment to the consti- tuition under which we changed from electing senators by general ticket to electfng them by senatorial dis tricts.
 How has it worked?
 Districts Not Fairly Apportioned.
 The districts were to be. as nearly as might be- equal in population. Are they? Three are more than twice the size of three others. Twenty are larg- CT than the fair average. Three coun- ties have ain their senatorial districts together a population of 6S,000 more than their fair proportion calls for, and the other five counties have 6S, ,000 less than what their fair proportion calls for In not one of these five counties is there single district that is not below the proper average in population.
 saf down in my office, the other day, and tried to figure out how the districts could be readjusted under the census of 1910, preserving county lines, within the limits of the constitution, so as to make them something like equal, and found it absolutely impos- sible.