Year: 1867

1t is now acknowledged that it is desra
bic mlnoritieS should be represented ir
the House of Commons. There are two
arguments which may be noticed. The
representation of minorities will, it is said
weaken tho expression Of the nationa
VIII, and this might in critical times involve
us IN danger. We invite those who raise
this objection to observe that as LORD
Cairns's amendment requires the existence
OF a minority equal to third in order tc
secure one member out Of three, it cannot
occasion an misrepresentation of minori.
ties. What, then, is the result of the
method? Simply this: that the repre-.
sentative Assembly will express with per,
feet exactness the national will. If the
will of the nation be clear, the majority in
the Assembly will be decisive; if it be
cautious and hesitating, the majority will


be small; if it be indecisive, the ma.
liority may waver. In all cases, truth
tul and not false representation OF
the mind Of the nation will be Sc.
cured and until some serious reason
Is adduced for believing that the will ol
the people should be misreprescnted, we
shall hold this fact conclusive. If critical
times come, as come they may, the nation
will be equal to them, and its representa-
tiveS in Parliament will speak with no un-
certain voice. But lctit be observed that
the existence and maintenance Of truly
representative Assembly is the best qua
rantce against crises, because it is a secu-
rity for the presence Of the moderating
wisdom Of the country in the ruling AS
scmbly. We are bold to say, referring to
an instance which has been much dwelt
upon, that had the House of Representa-
tires IN the United States been IN truth 1chat
it peuported by its name to be, an assembly
representing the orhole people of the States,
the secession Of tie South could neuer haze
been accomplished. 1t is an historical fact
that the southern representatives at Wash
ington were all members Of the most eX-
treme party, composed Of men who had
tried to persuade themselves that
slavery was a Divine institution. The
minority in the South, deprived of all
power, dwindled away. The slave-owners
who at the time Of the Revolution de-
plored the existence Of slavery and desired
its aboltion-witness Washington him.
gradually diminished, and though
never wholly eXtinguished, their voices
We're unheard in the House Of Representa-
tivcs. On the other hand, the States OF
New England-themselve happily free
from the curse which their kinsmen had
inherited sent to Washington men unable,
from want Of similar experience, to un-
dcrstand or sympathize with the difficult
ties Of the South. What was intended by
the founders of the Republic to be a con-
Sultative House became the battlefield OF
two hostile armies, and when the more
turbulent were outnumbercd, they endea-
vored to a5rogate the Union. Men appeal
TO the experience Of the States; we call
them to witness against that system of in
trusting all power Of election to local ma
jorities which superficial observers sup
pose their history supports. The example
of the Union is equally powerful in dis


posing of the remaining argument against
the representation Of minorities. 1t is
said that it will throw the control of
elections into the hands of managers,
and put electors under the domination
Of "ticket." Those who advance this
argument cannot have examined it. Is
not the phenomenon of the "ticket" the
consequence in the States Of throwing the
whole power into the hands Of a majority,
50 that unless a man subjects himself
wholly to the organization Of his party he
is powerless, helpless, hopeless Do we
not, on a smaller scale, see the same thing
here when electors are bound to accept a
club candidate The limitation Of the
power of majority, SO far from aggrava-
ting this evil, will most etlectually reduce
it. Voters will know that though they may
not be majority, they can return their
own member, and they will be encouraged
to rebel against the thraldom Of managers.
The idea of the representation Of minori-
ties is, indeed, nothing more nor less than
the liberation of the individual from the
bondage in which he now lies its perfect
realization is that true democracy which
enlists all forms of thonght, of intelligence,
and Of power in the political life of the ma
ton, and converts the Representative AS
sembly, which directs our destinies, into a
microcosm Of the Empire.