The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1930-07-31

congressman together, in some dis
trict. Consolidation involves some
radical changes of lines. The first
and the third districts are both
small. They cannot solve the prob
lem by trading territory with each
other. The third cannot be ex-
banded to the north without go
ing clear around the Twin Cities.
Obviously, both districts have to be
expanded westward.
The first district, with 228, 1886
can take on Blue Earth and Fari-
bault counties and then have 283,-
|919 population. Those counties
now are in the second. The third
could stand addition of Renville,
Meeker and Kandiyohi counties,
and then would have 287, AT. Those
are radical changes, but anything
less would leave the districts UNI
der the quota.
The second district, shorn of
Blue Earth and Faribault counties,
would have only 176,788, and would
need about 100000 more. The only
place to get them would be to the
north. That would annex Paul j.
Kvale's territory to Frank Clague's
district. The addition Of Lyon, Vel
low Medicine, Lac qui Parle
Chippewa, Swift, Big Stone, Pope
and Stevens counties would give
this district 271,926. That wrecks
the present seventh district, three
counties being shifted to the third
district and eight to the second. It
leaves only Douglas, Grant and
Traverse counties to be added to
the ninth district which still would
be below average with 265,210 pop
ulation.
This is one of the simplest pos
sible plans of regrouping Mime
sofa into nine districts. There are
plenty of otherways to do it, but
all of them run into serious OBJ
jections. Congressman Kvale's
friends would complain of this plan
that it eliminates him and tears the
present seventh district all to
pieces.
Just try to fix it some other way.
The seventh is a sort of buffer dis
trict. Other districts must expand,
and can elpand only in that direc-
ton. The first could be extended
northward instead of to the west,
throwing August Andresen's coun-
ty Of Goodhue into Christgau's con-
stituency, but that would not help
matters. Goodhue alone would not
be enough. Add either Dakota or
Rice, and the district is too big,
besides gerrymandering the third
out of shape.
Expand the third district north
ward, and the present tenth dis
trict would be wrecked. It would
have to reach westward cutting in
to the sixth.
The second district must expand
in any event, whether it loses ter
ritory to the first district or not
1t can grow only northward, at the
expense of the seventh. The only
way to keep a semblance of the
seventh would be to add western
counties of the third district to the
second, move the third district line
far to the north ,and push the sew
enth district to the outskirts of
Minneapolis.
One quite feasible variation of
the plan outlined is to add Bel
tramia and Lake of the Woods
counties to the ninth district, cut
ting off the northern tip of the
sixth, and give Douglas to the
sixth.
This is merely an idea of work
able plan. When the political
sharps in the legislature get
through the result may look very
little like the grouping outlined,
but it will hardly improve on the
one suggested, from the standpoint
of equality in population and COM
pactness of line. It also means a
minimum of changes consistent
with equality.
\ In the IL years in which Mime
sofa had nine congressman, a
status to which it is returning, Hen
nepin county was the fifth district,
Ramsey county with Washington
and Chisago, formed the fourth.
Owing to the growth of the cities,
that status cannot be restored.
Ramsey is just right for one district
and Hennepin nearly large enough
for two of them. Therefore it is
impossible to return to the lines
which were used for the 1901 ap-
portionment.
The first district has not been
changed for many years. The Sec
ond used to extend far to the north
ward, as it would do in the sample
plan outlined. The third also went
farther west, taking in Renville
and Meeker counties. The present
seventh was blocked out as new
district in 1901. taking parts of the
second and third and large share
of the old seventh. Before that date
the seventh district extended from
Kandiyohi and Swift counties to
the Canadian border.