The Connecticut labor news. (New Haven, Conn.) 1921-1925, 1921-07-08
Party Conventions and
Nominations in Con-
troll of a Few Because
of Unfair Proper
tons, Also Says
League Bulletin.

vi \OlllICNllNul OlCNlS HUI llldlI lICtl
the representatives in the lower
House. The other nine-tenths cleo
the remaining members. This is be
cause the House of Representative:
is composed OF men elected, not on
geographical units, says the LeglSla
tive bulletin of the Connecticut
League OF " omen Voters.
A study Of the basis Of reDresen-
tation shows these remarkable facts
One-half the number OF registered
voters i'll Connecticut live in nine
cities. This half is represented in the
lower house by Is members. The
other half, living in the smaller cities
and towns, is represented in the
House by PA members. Again, 200,
900 voters, living III nine cities OF the
the House OF Representatives than
I,775 voters living III IL towns. One
tenth OF the voting population OF the
state elects a majority OF the Repre-
sentatiVes. SO marked is this discrep-
ancy that a person voting in the town
of Union has 400 times as much voice
in the laW-mal<ing of the lower House
as a person living in New Haven.
Regardless of any merit that may be
claimed Tor the system, is this repre-
sentative American government?
The question leads one to further
reflections on the machinery Of law
making in Connecticut. The nOmlna-
ton OF candidates is by convention
and caucus. This has resulted in
placing the control of nominations in
the hands of small group in each
town. With few exceptions the real
election takes place in the caucus, for
the average voter, when he goes to
the polls, casts a straight ballot with
out regard to the particular merits of
individual candidates, which as rule
he has no means Of knowing.
1t is the general rule that two
thirds Of the Legislature is new at
each session. Quite naturally the new
members hold back until they have
had an opportunity to learn the ropes
and incidentally until the session is
nearly over. Familiarity with parlia-
mentary rules is in itself a study. A
representative who is new discovers
that early in the session he has help
ed elect a speaker who in turn has
appointed committees to which an
bills introduced are referred. He dis
covers that the real work of law max
rooms He finds that all but the more
controversial matters are decided
there, and that a sanctity pertains to
committee reports that it is hard to
violate. He observes that favorable
report may be rejected, but that an
unfaVorable report is rarely over
turned even once in the course of a
session. He finds that it is next to
impossible to obtain roll-call vote
that will place members on record on
specific measures He learns that,
THE people who have studied this bill
ought 10 be the best judges. You'd
bette trust the committee"
The Legislature of 1921 was no
exception in recent history. To be
sure, it was a Legislature composed of
members of one party; it contained
only IA democrats and one indepen-
dent. A larger proportion than usual
were new men-and women. There were
occasional Outbursts OF opposition
to committee reports, an occasional
cry of gag rule but the opposition
was without leaders or organization.
Those who did lead are the men who
have lead off and on for years, who
headed the committees and gave the
reports, who are prominent at party
NOIlN CltlOllS1 wiz Will OO "a
at future conventions.
The Senate, as was to be expected
from the fact that its members are
chosen more nearly according to
population, as a rule reflected it's more
representative character in its votes
upon controversial matters.
Representative? No, and it never
will be. It's human nature for few
10 n nd ha fol
That is the answer Of one observer.
Primarily, however, the actual ma
chinery is at fault regardless Of human
vagaries. Obviously it will be long
before this machinery will be changed,
for it depends upon the Legislature it
self to initiate the constitutional
required for the purpose.
An attempt to change the basis of rep
resentation to allow one representa-
tive for every $4,000 population in ex-
cess of 10000 failed in 1902, the cities
believing that this representation was
not enough, and the towns believing
that it was too much. The issue will
at some time become strong enough
to force the Legislature to rule itself
out Of existence and establish a new
basis OF representation. Eventually,
also, some popular method of nomin-
at1nR Cd1OlQdtcS Will De arrived dC. III
the meantime the conscientious voter
is faced with the problem of how best
to use the existing machinery in order
to register his opinion.
The answer Of the League of Wom-
en- Voters is this: First, enroll in the
party Of your choice; second, learn
who the candidates for nomination
are and what they stand for; third,
go to the caucus and vote for the best
man or woman. The experience of
the Connecticut League has been that
nothing weighs more heavily with
members of the Legislature than the
collective opinion and wishes of their
constituents, when these are expressed
with sufficient energy and numbers.
The voters at home have the moral
power to direct the voters at the Cap
Itol. But the voters at home, to be
successful, must thoroughly know the
issues involved; therefore they must
have constant access to the latest in
formation. They must be able to act
At a. moments notice; therefore they
must have organization. The work
by the league in these
irst months, with its comparatively
scattered membership, is a promise
IF what it may accomplish in the fu-