The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-12-25
REFORM!!!


The republican national commit
tee has just met in Washington, and
moved and inspired by that militant
reformer, Mr.. Barnes of New York,
has reformed the basis of represen-
tation in the national convention IN
order to correct the undue prepon-
derance of the southern states. In
this era of progressive politics and
policies how has the work been done?
In the republican national conven-
ton of 1912 the ten states of Virgin
ia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, MISSISSIPPI
pi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas
cast 22S votes out of 1918. This
was 81 per cent of the whole. The
total republican vote in these ten
states in the preceding presidential
election-19O8-wa less than 1885,
600. The popular vote for Taft in
that election was more than $780,
600. The delegates from ten states
which in 1908 did not cast single
republican electoral vote, states cast
ing tritle over 5 per cent of the
total republican vote, had more than
one-tifth of the ballots in the con-
vention that nominated the candi-
date in 1912. And these southern
votes were absolutely in the hands
of the administration, which control
led them by means of patronage to
do with as it pleased.
This iniQuity was one OF the
things that split the republican party
in twain in 1912. It is one OF the
things the recent meeting of the
national committee was called to put
an end to. How did that body do
it?
1t adopted new rule of appor-
tionment. Let us look at the ten
states in question and see how they
Jared. In November of last year
these states cast 13O,65S votes for
Taft out of 3,4S5,00O. Under the
new apportionment they will have
1853 delegates out of 998. In other
words, three and three-quarters per
cent of the voters will now have 5
per cent of the votes in the national
convention where in 1912 about 5
per cent of the voters had Fl per
cent.
Under the old apportionment the
republican voters in the ten states
mentioned counted for AZ times as
much in the convention as an equal
number of republican votes in the
country at large. Under the ere
form" apportionment they will count
for but four times as much. Where
rotten borough" system of repre-
sentation had inflated the influence
of a certain body of voters to AZ
times what it should be, Mr.. Barnes
of New York in his zeal, succeeded
in knocking off the extra two-tenths
of l per cent!
The republican readers of these
words will doubtless reply that the
circumstances in 1912 were excep-
tional, that the progressive move
ment is sure to be ephemeral; that
the f. ithful will return, and that to
cut their representation down to any
thing within 100 to $50 per cent of
the figure where it belongs would be
to discourage" the republicans in
the ten states.
The argument is familiar. 1t is
the same that has been used to boil
ster up the iniquity of solid body
of southern delegates, owned, body
and soul, by the administration and
used remorselessly to perpetuate the
power of a machine for many years.
This is simply new application of
an old sophistry.
No one of the ten states mention
ed has cast a republican electoral
vote since popular government was
resumed at the end of the carpet
bag regime Yet republican voter
there, under the old, unreformed or
der, had AZ times as much represen-
tation in the national convention as
the average republican voter in the
nation at large. Now, thanks to Mr..
Barnes and the great moral awaken
ing which has just convulsed the
party, he will only have four times
as much. The two-tenths have been
reformed away!-St. Louis Repub-
liz