The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-03-16


 We identify nations and the po- licies of nations by the character istics md policies of the dominant faction therein. That is becsuCo we lose our mental accuracy in consid- ering collectivities.
 Yet it often happens that what we refer to as an American policy or as a German policy or as British policy may be policy which the average German. American or Brit ish will not endorse.
 Even In representative demo- cracics it can occur that tGe poli- cies which are those of tho govern ment and hence are identified with the nation. say as American poll cies, may be policies which do not represent quite a large majority ol the people and ere radically differ ent from an extensive minority.
 Tho Wilson administration is 9 minority administration. Tho split in the republicans elected the mi nor.ty party and Q majority of the people as represented in tho pro- gressives, the republicans :nd the socialists find no expression wnat- ever.
 h Europe this is even. moro mccked. Thero tho ruling clnas Is in very distinct minority. It's eims, ambitions, designs. policies are held to be characteristic of the ma jority of the people therein.
 a Thus itFis that we find nations embarking upon what Is .cslled A German. a BritisE. Q French or a Russian policy which the people ,or those countries in their hoort of hearts do not cupport.
 :, But Fin all countries a powerful few can enforce their wills subtly and unconsciously sometimes, move often by main forco ard economic power on the rest and they ruie
 In Europe for tho moot part the trouble is to give the majority rul- ing expression. In America CT where thorc is representative government the trouble is to allow a powerful or numerically small minority some say in it's affairs.
 Four-ffths of the objection to re- preSent2tive government $ that it Sivcs the party which obtains the n0Gt votes absolute coltrol of the legislative functions of government It allows the minority hcwcFcH 2rgC no expression whGtcyor And ac- ccrdingly the nation proceeds upon a policy which is not in accord with the wishes of quite a large portion of the population but which is dl- rcc-ed by 9 majority however small because it ic a majority.
 Some men to overcome this have proposed proportional representa- ton. This system proposes to give representation to minority Tn terms of its vote. That is to say, suppose q district elects six members for the legislature, those members would be divided up in proportion to the voto c2st. ore third the vote secur- ing one third the representation two third the vote getting two thirds, or tho party getting one sixth the vote receiving one sixth the mem bership, and so on.
 In this way every person is sure of representation, ard while it might add somewhat to the legislative difti- entities of the majority party, 1t would at least give the minority parties representation. And it would certainly result in many who now can never hope to be represented finding that they were represented and we'll, under the system of pro portional representation.
 It would have the decided advant- age of making public the variety or views that obtain in any Common wealth. And it would grectly help to prevent any policy being adopted and passing off as a national policy when it represented merely the po- Hey of a faction thereof.
 The objection raised against this method is that it would tendyto ob- sruct legislation. The law mills would grind out measures more slowly and the debates would be so bitter that progress would be inn possible.
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