■'^\: -.^j H, PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION INCLUDING ITS RELATION TO THE Initiative and Referendum BY ALFRED CRIDGE With Appendix by Robert Tyson BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR iiemorial Sbtttnn SAN FRANCISCO THE STAR PRESS-JAMES H. BARRY 1904 ,n(iO R. 3,0m R. 3.0O0 R. 2,000 D. 2,000 D. 2,000 D. 2.000 D. 4,000 D. 4,000 D. 4.000 D. 2,000 P. 2.000 P. 2,000 P. 2,000 P. 3.000 P. 3,000 P. 3,000 P. R.elec'd R. elcc'd R.elec'd R.elec'd D. elcc'd D. clec'd D. elec'd 111 this case: The ] 2,000 Kepublicans elect four representa- tives. The 20,000 Democrats elect three representa- tives. 10 The 17,000 Populists elect kone. Yet the Populists polled 5,000 more votes than the Kepublicans in the whole State, and tlie Repub- licans elected four representatives out of seven, the Populists electing none at all ; while the Demo- crats, polling 8,000 votes more than their more fortunate Kepublican fellow citizens, have to be satisfied with one "representative" less. Less than one-fourtli of the voters thus secure a ma- jority of representatives. Were there four, five or six parties (and even six would but inadequately cover the great variety of thought on public questions, the minority of voters which might thus secure a majority of the elected body would necessarily become less and less, so that with five parties, 8,000 Republicans — less than a sixth of the whole number — could get four representatives; 12,000 Democrats — 50 per cent more voters — but three; and 29,000 of three other parties— more than the Republicans and Democrats together — would be entirely unrep- resented. This could be proved in detail did space permit. Thus, the more intelligent the voters become the less representation they are apt to get if they vote in accordance with their convictions. In fact the intelligent voter has often in practice no choice but to vote with one of two large parties, or with a party holding tlie balance of power in his dis- trict, and thus helping by chance to elect a third party or keep out the nominee of the party most obnoxious to him. But this is merely choosing 11 tlie less of two evils, not choosing a representative according to the views and wishes of the voter. It may be said that the results shown by the pre- ceding examples and diagi'ams can only be of aca- demic value, and that the figures and numerical po- sitions of parties therein are arbitrarily selected and can have no existence in practice. It will, tlierefore, be necessary in our next chapter to ad- duce some examples of actual elections and see if the practice proves the tlieor}'; that is, to show that in practice the majority do not rule, that the people are not properly represented, and that they have not the power to change the laws at their will. 12 CHAPTER II. A Posteriori Demonstration. For the practical demonstration of the work- ings of our "representative" system, delusively so-called, we will use no examples derived from any country hut our own, although there would be no lack of material; for to use foreign examples would require more space than the limits of this pamphlet will permit, and therefore such examples must be left to those in each country who are suffi- ciently interested in just and eifective representa- tion to scrutinize the modes of election in vogue and their results. Here we can only present some demonstrations of actual elections of Supervisors and Boards of Education in San Francisco, of State Legislators, and of the Federal House of Pepresentatives. The Board of Supei'visors in San Francisco (substantially the same as City Councils else- where) were on November 8, 1896, elected at large, each voter voting for twelve candidates, that being the number constituting the Board, and the candi- date in each ward receiving the highest vote all o^^er the city was declared elected. On this occasion the entire seventy-three candidates received 708,- 516 votes, the tv/elve successful ones received 263,- 683 votes, being but 37.215 per cent — less than three-eighths of the whole. The vote for all the candidates in each ward ranged from 57,369 to 59,- 909 votes. The twelve successful candidates each 13 received from 17,294 to 25,488 votes, or from 29 per cent to nearly 43 jDer cent of the total vote. We subjoin the exact vote for each candidate and the percentage which this represents to the total vote in each ward: Vote of Successful Perc. to Total Ward. Total Vote. Candidate. of W^ard. 1 59,909 25,488 43 2 59,782 23,735 40 3 58,059 22.829 39 4 59,005 23.494 40 5 57,369 23,924 42 6 58,986 20,121 34 7 59,405 24,083 41 8 59.030 20.500 35 9 59,423 21.353 3ft 10 59,278 20,158 34 11 58,940 20,694 35 12 59,330 17.294 29 Total... . ....708.516 263,683 Ordinarily, any figure above 50 per cent of the total would be called a majority; but in political aritlunetic, as the preceding fig-ures demonstrate, 37.215 per cent— the proportion of the total vote of all the successful candidates — must suffice; and as the imagination is verj- elastic, it will not be any more difficult to stretch it from 29 per cent (the i)ropoi-tion of the vote which elected the lucky member from the Twelfth AVard) than from about 43 i>er cent (the proportion received by the member elected from the First Ward.) The Board of Education Elected in 189G. This Board is elected strictly at large, the twelve candidates receiving the largest number of vot^s 14 being elected. The total vote cast for all the seventy aspirants was 630,633, of which the suc- cessful candidates received 198,393, or 31.46 per cent, being less than one-third. To ascertain, as nearly as possible, the relative strength of each candidate, we divide 630,633 by 12, giving a quo- tient of 52,555, that being about the total number of voters. Taking this as a basis. We find the num- ber of votes for each candidate and the percentage each received of the total vote to be as follows : Candidate. Vote. Percent. Benj. Armer 15,400 29 C. L. Barrington 19.138 36 T. R. Carew 15,978 30 G. I. Drucker 17,107 32— J. E. Halsted 18,171 35— E. L. Head 15,057 29— C. A. Bartlett 14,994 28— Th. H. Burns 16,292 31— W. A. Denham 18,080 34— E. J. Gallagher 14,592 28— Phillip Hammond 16,254 31— S. F. Waller 17,329 33— (The dash ( — ) after the percentage denotes something less than the percentage specified.) In this case the imagination has to receive an- other twist by tailing it for granted that 28 per cent must suffice for a majority ; 36 per cent repre- sents the highest »proportion of the total average vote cast. The partisans of existing political arithmetic will here reply that these Boards were both elected at large, and therefore we should return to single- member districts. Let us now see how that works. Of the nine Senatorial districts into which San 15 f Vancisco is divided, five elected eacli one Senator in 1896 by the following vote, the first column being tlie district uunibor, the second the total vote polled tJierein, the third the vote received by the successful candidate, and the fourth the percent- age, a dash after the latter indicating that it was rather less than the fisrnre given: 17 5,491 2,245 41— 19 5,921 2,272 38 21 7,780 3,218 41 23 7,021 1,670 24 25 4,810 1,857 39— Thus the successful candidates received only 11,- 262 votes, being 38.56 per cent of the total 31,023 votes. This is again rough on the political imag- ination ; but when we take the districts separately, the twist on the imagination has to be further in- tensified, and old notions of arithmetic must be discarded, so that we may gulp down as an article of political faith, the belief of which is in- dispensable to salvation, that 24 per cent of any number is a majority, and as such is entitled to rule; for such was the percentage of the total vote received by the Senator from the Twenty- third, the highest percentage being 41 in the Twenty-first. The gentleman in the Twenty- third District was elected by 1,670 votes, while the Sen- ator from the Twenty-first is backed by 3,218 votes, defeating his opponent, who received 2,108, or 438 more than the candidate elected from the Twenty-third District. Now let us see how it was with the Assembly- 16 men from the city. Assembly districts mimbered from 28 to 45 inclusive, making eighteen in all, voted as follows : Per Cent Total Vote of Effective Vote Vote Elected Candidate. to Total Vote. 2,618 925 85 2,900 1,070 37— 2,786 885 32— 3,184 1,080 34— 2,471 791 32 3,099 1,026 33 3,865 1,315 34 2,782 1.238 45— 4,068 1,826 45 4,182 2,049 45 3,588 1,280 49 3,902 1,811 34— 3,761 2,205 59— 3,695 1,442 89 2,850 1,212 43— 2,518 6,698 28— 2,778 1,167 42 1,988 708 36 56,986 22,179 This table shows that bnt one Assemblyman out of eighteen received a majority of votes in his dis- trict, in which there was but one contestant, the vote of the others ranging from 28 to 45 ]Der cent of the total vote in their respective districts, while in the Senatorial districts the range was from .24 to 41. It may now be claimed that imagination is only thus taxed in Sunny California by gerry- mandering. As before stated, any one can test the elections in his own State, county or city. We will now examine the figures of the election of November, 1896, for tlie House of Kepresenta- tives, by parties. There we find tliat tlie Repub- licans polled 0,677,100 votes, being 49.61 i^er cent of the total vote of 13,457,500 ; the Democrats and Fusionists, 5,976,945, or 44.41 per cent; Populists and silver men, 562,938, or 4.18 per cent; National Democrats, Prohibitionists, Independents, etc., 240,517, or .78 per cent, which accounts for 99.98 per cent of the total. Now compare this percent- age of votes as cast by eaeh party with the per- centage of seats secured. The 49.61 per cent of Republican votes captured 204 seats, or 57.30 per cent of the whole; 44.41 per cent of Democrats got 135 seats, being 37.92 per cent; 4.18 per cent of Populists got 4.77 per cent of the seats (17) ; and the 1.78 of others se- cured nothing. This accounts for 356 seats. (There are 357 members; but these figures are from the New York World's Almanac of 1897, which showed the condition of the first session, when one seat from ^Missouri was vacant. After- wards two Republicans were added to the House). ^Misrepresented and Unrepresented. Comparing the total of all votes for all the can- didates with the total vote received by the suc- cessful ones, it is found that only 7,784,968 voters are represented, out of 13,457,500 who ought all to be represented; hence 5,672,532 voters are en- tirely without real representation, or misrepre- sented by persons against whom they voted. Of 18 those caaididates elected, the vote by parties was as follows : Party. Total Vote of Party. Percentage of Vote. Republicans 204 5,038,367 37.43 Democrats 120) Fusionists 15) 2,290,259 17.00 Populists and Silver. 17 456,342 3.39 356 7,784,968 57.84 5,672,532 42.16 Unrepresented It is right that in any legislative body a major- ity of its members should have power to decide any question, provided such majority is backed by a majority of voters. But here we find the Eepublican majority of 204 representing but 37.43 per cent of the voters — not much over one-third — able to pass or defeat any measure. Politics is re- markable for acrobatic mental and logical feats; but we have yet to hear from its exponents the ex- plicit claim that 37.43 per cejit is a majority. Votes on Actual Measures Analyzed. To realize the concrete meaning of this so-called majority rule we have analyzed the votes on cer- tain measures in order to find the percentage of voters therein represented, thus heading off the claim that unequal as is the numerical representa- tion it equalizes itself in the vote on particular questions. In this analysis no note is taken of the merits or demerits of any particular measure, the only subject in view being: To what extent are the voters represented ? The bill to buy bonds was defeated in the House 19 by 333 yeas to 182 nays. These 182, who defeated the bill, received an aggregate of 4,383,619 votes, being but 32.57 per cent, of the total of 13,457,500 votes i)olled at an election for all the candidates. The Bankruptcy Bill was passed by 159 to 124, the 159 having received 3,835,291, or only 28.50 per cent, of the preceding total. (Notes. Not having been able to ascertain the votes received by Burleigh of Maine, Bontelle of Illinois, Lawrence of Massachusetts, Showalter of Pennsylvania, and Driggs of New York, we substi- tuted the vote received by their predecessors, the persons named having been elected to fill vacancies. Kansas elected one of its eight and Pennsylvania two of its thirty representatives at large. We did not consider these members or their vote at all. To each of the two representatives elected at large from Washington and South Dakota we appor- tioned one-half of the popular vote in that State.) Great Variations in District Votes. As the vote of any representative counts for just as much as any other as to any enacted or pro- posed law, one would expect that each would rep- resent a constituency approximate in the number of voters to every other constituency. It is quite otherwise. Not considering the seven members elected at large from several States (Gough of Pennsylvania receiving 711,246 votes ^. we find one representative from Mississi])pi elected by 3,069 votes; one from South Carolina by 4,052; one from Nevada by 6,069; one from Pennsylvania by 59,147; one from Georgia by 1,269. The man 20 from Pennsylvania received nearly 47 times as many votes as the man from Georgia. Nor are these gross inequalities between mem- bers from different States. One of Pennsylvania's representatives received 59,147 votes ; another 11,655. One representative from Illinois had 51,582 votes, and another got in with 10,488. Disproportionate Representation of Parties. This chance system, or rather want of system, is equally idiotic and unjust in its representation of parties. In California 128,941 Kepublicans elected 3 representatives, 29,565 Democrats elect- ed 1, 56,881 Fusionists elected 1, while the lucky 44,837 Populists elected 2. In Missouri 304,135 Eepublican voters elected only 3 representatives, while 339,136 Democrats elected all the other eleven, one seat remaining va- cant. In Nebraska the Democrats and Populists (Fu- sion), with 112,135 voters, elected 4 representa- tives, while 100,156 Republicans secured but two. In Kentucky 210,802 Republicans secured but 4 representatives, while the lesser number of 204,- 137 Democrats got 7. In Mainland 135,423 Republicans secured the entire delegation of 6, the Democrats casting 106,- 747 votes without securing one. In New York 807,856 Republicans elected 29 members, and 493,295 Democrats only 5. In Ohio 542,682 Republicans elected 15, and the 21 Democrats and Fusionists cast 473,986 votes and elected 6. In Tennessee 116,565 Kepublican voters elected but 2 members, while 156,771 Democrats elected 8. In Texas 102,884 Kepublican voters elected only one member, while 135,609 Populists electe"d nothing, and 287,429 Democrats elected 12. Thus, on the average, it took less than one-fourth as many Democrats to elect a member as it did Re- publicans, while it required five and one-half times as many Populists to elect nothing as Democrats to elect one. In IVest Virginia 102,442 Republican voters elected the entire delegation of 4, while 91,376 Democrats had to "throw away their votes." In Wisconsin 150,675 Democrats failed to elect a single representative, while 238,937 Republicans secured the entire 10 members. What Logically Follows? Justice Brown, of the United States Supreme Court, in an address before the Law Department of Yale University, remarked as follows : ''The great unanswerable argument in favor of universal suffrage is not that it insures a better or a purer government, but that all must be contented with a government in which all have an equal voice. ' ' The ])receding figures nmst surely convince any American citizen capable of reasoning that the sources of his contentment lie more in this belief or faith of having an equal voice in his govern- ment than in the facts. Is it still necessaiy, after 22 the preceding expositions, to show that it is an in- sult aggravated by sarcasm to proclaim that under the present electoral system "the people rule and have it in their power to alter or repeal laws at pleasure," or that "the people must be corrupt" if governmental affairs are often in that condition, and that "the people can, in general, have as good a government as they deserve"? 23 CHAPTER III. Reform Parties and Advocates of Progress. Whoever carefully considers the results as above exemplified need look no further for the cause of the extreme difficulty of effecting any re- fonn requiring political action, even aside from the great impediments of conflicting interests, pre- judices and, above all, constitutions, these last be- ing amendable only with very great and long-con- tinued effoi-t, or not at all, and being therefore looked up to with envy by the privileged classes of Great Britain. But even aside from constitutional restrictions, it is clear that any new party scattered widely all over the country, has but little opportunity, except in times of great commotion, to make any percep- tible impression on the law. All new parties outside the pale of the two old-established, thoroughly or- ganized and wealthy parties (Democrats and Re- publicans in this country, and Consen^atives and Liberals in Great Britain), must content them- selves V7i\h making bargains or fusions with one of these ''grand old parties," or exacting conces- sions from them, through holding an uncertain ''balance of power," by means of threats or ca- .iolerv\ The power exercised by these old parties in this country often borders on despotism, which has not escaped the keen obser\'ation of foreign ^\Titers, occasioning John Stuart ]\Iin to remark, 24 in ''Considerations on Representative Govern- ment, ' ' Harper, 1862, page 166 : "In the United States, where the numerical ma- jority have long been in fnll possession of collect- ive despotism, they would probably be as loath to part with it as a single despot or an aristocracy." On page 146, of the same work, he says : "In a really equal democracy, every or any sec- tion would be represented not disproportionately, but proportionately. ' ' Direct Legislation. Many persons, seeing that legislation by so- called "representatives" is "omnipotent for evil, powerless for good," and unacquainted with the fact that we have no really "representative" gov- ernment at all (as hereinbefore proved) have con- cluded that the only remedy is for the people themselves to make the laws directly. Mr. W. H. T. Wakefield, in the AVichita, Kansas, ' ' Bayonet, ' ' thus indicates the insufficiency of the Initiative and Keferendum, though they unquestionably have valuable preliminary uses: ' ' Ours is and must necessarily continue to be, in the main, a representative government, even with the fullest measure of Direct Legislation. Eepre- sentatives must draft and submit the laws to be voted upon; and a legislature composed of the lickspittles of special privilege bosses could and would so frame and submit laws in the interest of the masses so as to 'keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to the hope' — ostensibly com- ply with the Referendum law, but really submit a 25 worthless law which could not stand an hour in a court, or would fail to accom])lish the purpose in- tended, if it did. j\rany laws are necessarily of a technical nature (such as cases of criminal proce- dure and medical ,jurisi)rudence) u]>on which the whole electorate cannot vote intelligently, and very few would vote at all. Unless there is a great change for the better in the demand for reg- ulating everything by statute, it will be possible to take a Referendum only on a few of the more important laws, as is done in Switzerland, where not one in forty of the laws are submitted to the popular vote. Even did we admit the possibility of the people voting— and voting intelligently — upon each of the twenty thousand laws annually enacted in the United States, yet we must elect men to frame them and to administer them, which requires an effective ballot." In Switzerland, under the Initiative, the general proposition is first submitted to the people, and if carried (that is, in the Cantons), the Council of State, composed usually of seven members, draws up a bill accordingly; but there is no correspond- ing body in any of the United States, and were such a body to be formed, and elected on the cur- rent misrepresentation plan, it could not here be depended upon, for reasons similar to those stated by Mr. Wakefield. In Switzerland, the Council of State draws up a bill such as required, and again the people vote upon it. So laborious is the ]3rocess that it is rarely used; especially is this rarity noticeable in the seven or eight Can- tons which use an imperfect form of Proportional Representation, representing only parties. It 2G works well there because parties, however diver- gent in opinion, are honestly so ; but it would not work well here. The current idea of American advocates of the Initiative, however, seems to be that a proposed law would be submitted complete the first and only time. But were this done, excepting on some great questions generally understood and easily framed into law, the drawback to which Mr. Wake- field refers of "keeping the word of proiiiise to the ear and breaking it to the hope," would be even more apparent for obvious reasons. And this is also indicated by the histoiy of "labor" legis- lation, enacted in obedience to popular demand, but so carelessly, perhaps pur]30sely, framed as to, in most cases, work results entirely different from those intended, become nugatory, or fail, for good reasons, to pass the ordeal of the judiciary. A noted example is the use of injunctions to sup- press labor combinations under a law prohibiting proceedings "in restraint of trade," supposed to have been enacted in the interest of labor ! The Imperative Mandate. This has a very imposing sound, but it is en- tirely destitute of practicality. It seems to be as- sumed that it has long been in active service in Switzerland, but my correspondents there say it never was used, and for the last twenty years has not even been talked about, excepting that in one or two Cantons an entire legislature can be recalled, but, so far as I can find, that power has never been 27 exercised. It is supposed to have been advocated in France many years ago, but never carried into effect. The proposition is that when a representative is believed by a cei*tain percentage of his constitu- ency to be corrupt or incompetent, they can peti- tion for his recall, and then the entire constituency pass upon it, and if a majority so determine, he va- cates his position, and another person is elected in his place, as in case of death or disability. This would be incompatible with Proportional Kepre- sentation in the first place, because when (say) ten persons were elected proportionately by a consti- tuency of 10,000, and it was desired to recall one of them who had received 1,000 votes, and there- fore was elected by only one-tenth of that constit- uency to represent them, and not the other 9,000, the effect would be entirely undone if tlie whole, or any part, of that 9,000 could override the 1,000, and it would be impossible in a secret ballot to pick out the 1,000 voters who had elected him from the others. But even under the present form of so-called ** representation, " the '* Imperative Mandate" would be so costly and cumbersome as to virtually be impracticable, as it would require two special elections, one to determine whether the represen- tative should be recalled or not, and another to elect his successor, should his recall be determined upon. This would require, for due notice, several months altogether. And it would be fully as easy to get up a petition against a good man as a bad one; because any corrupt persons, having objects 28 to subserve by worrying a representative who op- posed their projects could hire scores of agents to get up the petitions, which the faithful represen- tative could not afford to do. Thus all officials, both executive and legislative, would have more work and more worry to keep their positions than to attend to their duties. Especially ridiculous would this be in the case of a California Assemblyman, elected for two years, but sitting, as a legislator, for only ninety days or so (the limit of pay is sixty days), in two years. The session would be over long before the ''Imperative Mandate" could be carried out with any fair degree of notice. It is often found difficult now to induce compe- tent, honest and well-known men to stand for legis- lative and other offices; but with the prospect of almost continuous insult and odium which would be involved, or at least expected, under the "Im- perative Mandate," no high-minded and self-re- specting person could be induced to become a can- didate. In other words, it would intensify all our present political evils, brilliant as it appears in theory to superficial obser\"ers. 29 CHAPTER IV. The Remedy Historically Sketched. Proportional Representation has no long history behind it, but a brilliant future before it. It had, like all reforms, its prophets, seers and pioneers, who saw the faults of the majority system, its vicious divisions, in boroughs, districts and wards, and the concomitant evils, which they essayed to correct as well as they knew. In 1747 Sir T. Dashw ood claimed for the people the right to be freely and fairly represented. In 1766 Lord Chatham took up the thread, holding that the representation as there existing could not endure for a century, and it did not. George Wilkes introduced a scheme of redistribution. In 1780 the Duke of Richmond stated in Parliament that 6,000 voters returned a clear majority of the House of Commons, and introduced a bill which is said (Putnam's Magazine, June, 1870) to have contained a clause looking to the representation of minorities. It was voted down without division. In 1785 Pitt introduced a bill for re-distribution, which, however, included compensation to the owners of illegitimate and wrongful privileges; and that also was voted down. In the United States a seemingly backward, but really forward step was taken in 1811 by the in- troduction of the * ' geriymander, " named after Elbridge Gerry, Governor of Massachusetts, to whom is accredited the device of so lajang out dis- 30 tricts in irregular form, lia\dng much greater dimensions one way than another, that a minority party could secure a majority of the representa- tion. This was extensively practiced for many years in Ohio and Indiana, and it was long famil- iarly known that any legislature in any closely bal- anced State could so district it as to secure a de- cided majority for the party which was in the ma- jority in the legislature, even when in the minor- ity in the State. At this time (1811) the two foremost advocates of Proportional Representation in England had attained their fifth year, one being the successful London barrister, Thomas Hare, whose treatise on the election of representatives was published in 1859, though two years earlier he had called atten- tion thereto in an article entitled "The Machinery of Representation." The other was the philoso- phic economist and philanthropist, John Stuart Mill, who, by his wide influence as a thinker and by his elaborate and favorable review of Mr. Hare's book in 1862, was largely instrumental in calling attention to it. He also unsuccessfully ad- vocated the same in Parliament in 1867. He formu- lated one of the most characteristic expressions in its favor when he said that it ' ' lifts the cloud which hangs over our civilization." Miss Catherine H. Spence, then and now of Ade- laide, South Australia, has however, slightly ante- dated Mr. Mill by the publication in 1861, of a 24- page pamphlet entitled "A Plea for Pure Demo- cracy, ' ' in advocacy of the Hare system, in which she quotes from Frazer's Magazine for February, 1860, part of an article by Hare, on "Representa- 31 tion in Practice and Theorjs" mentioning a x^aper from Mr. Rowland Hill (subsequently the great originator of penny postage), suggesting a plan for the nmnicii)al govei-nment of South Australia, he making the suggestion as Secretary of the Col- onization Connnissioners. This plan was to elect Town Councils by "voluntary classification of electors into as many equal quorums as there are members to be elected, and that each of these who can agree upon an unanimous vote shall return one member." Miss Spence adds that this scheme was actually carried out in the tirst election for Adelaide in 1840, two councilors Ijeing returned by two quoinims, one of which consisted of the work- men in Borrow & Goodiar's yard who so elected their foreman, and another councilor Was simi- larly chosen by a quorum of citizens. Great Britain, however, during all this intei-val, has made no further progress along these lines than to adopt the cumulative vote— a crude recog- nition of the principle of proportional representa- tion — in the election of school boards in 1870. On the European continent somewhat more prog- ress has been made. In 1846 Victor Considerant, a disciple of Fourier, advocated a ])roportional system before the Grand Council of Geneva, akin to one advocated twelve years previously by Fourier himself. In 1864 Pro- fessor Ernest Naville, of Geneva, Switzerland, tried to arouse the people to the dangers of vio- lence threatened by exclusive majority elections, advocating ])ropoi-tional representation as a rem- edy; but it was not until several persons were killed in the Canton of Ticino in the fall of 1890, 32 as a direct result of the old system, that, in re- sponse to the urging of the Federal government, that Canton enacted Proportional Representation, under which the first election was held on March 10, 1892. Neuchatel speedily followed, holding its first election on May lOtli of that year. Geneva and some three or four other Cantons, also some mu- niciijalities, fell into line soon afterward. In Denmark the statesman and mathematician, Andrae, introduced in 1855 (independently of Mr. Hare, with whom he had then not been in any com- munication) a system identical in principle, for the election of a part of the Legislature, which became law in 1856, and has been used ever since ; but in so indirect a manner and for so few of the members that it amounts to nothing practically, though the method works without error. In Belgium there has been a vigorous agitation kept up through the monthly magazine ''La Rep- resentation Proportionnelle, " and otherwise, for some twenty years, with the result of the D 'Hondt system being used in municipal elections, and the subject of its introduction in elections for the na- tional legislature is a prominent issue in Parlia- ment, apparently nearing success. In ISTorway a modified form of a method pro- posed by Prof. Hagenbach-Bischoff is used for some local purposes. In Brazil a system of Proportional Representa- tion, apparently wanting in completeness of detail, is used in electing representatives to the national legislature from Rio Janeiro, and is also used for one of the provincial legislatures. Before proceeding further we may note that the 33 Hon. Tom Ij. Johnson of Ohio introduced a bill in the 54th Congress for the purpose of electing mem- bers of the House of Representatives in the differ- ent States by a somewhat similar but simpler sys- tem, and at least as effective, but open to the same objection of giving party machinery too much play. A scrutine di lista system was established in I'rance in 1885, but was repealed in 1887, when the reaction against Boulanger set in, whose tempo- rary success, though, was less the effect of the list system than the result of by-elections, which per- mitted him to run in several districts. The latter law was also repealed in the same year. In January, 1897, the first election under the Hare system was held for the return of six mem- bers to the parliament of Tasmania from the city of Hobaii, and four from Launceston, with such marked success that in 1899 a bill introduced by Premier Braddon, extending the system to the en- tire island-province, passed the lower house, though it is not likely to pass the very conservative, highly propertied upper house this year. The subject is vigorously agitated in the parliament of South Australia, and has been in those of Victoria and New Zealand. No plan but the Hare system, by far the best and simplest of any, is there considered. It is known in South Australia as the *'Hare- Spence" system. Miss Spence having simplified it veiy much. In Tasmania it is known as the *' Clark-Hare" system, because of the improve- ments of Mr. Justice Clark. In the United States Mr. Thomas Gilpin in 1844 published a book entitled ''Representation of Mi- 34 norities." In 1871 Mr. Simon Sterne, counsellor- at-law, New York, published the substance of Mr. Hare's book in a somewhat condensed form, under the title of ' ' Representative Government and Per- sonal Riepreseutation. ' ' The Cumulative Vote and the Limited Vote. The cumulative vote was suggested in 1854 in London by Mr. James G. Marshall and has long been used in Great Britain for electing school boards. It is best defined in the Constitution of California, Art. XII, Sec. 12, as follows : "In all elections for directors or managers of corporations every shareholder shall have a right to vote, in person or by proxy, the number of shares of stock owned by him, for as many persons as there are directors and managers to be elected, or to cumulate said shares and to give one candi- date as many votes as the number of directors mul- tiplied by the number of his shares of stock shall equal, or to distribute them on the same principle among as many candidates as he shall see fit. ' ' Similar provisions are to be found in the consti- tutions of several other States. The system was ably advocated by U. S. Senator Buckalew, of Pennsylvania, for the election of Congressmen, and unanimously recommended by the committee to whom it was referred. The senator stated that Pennsylvania and other States elected inspectors of election by the * ' limited vote, ' ' which enabled a minority party in an election district to secure representation in that body if they could poll one- third of the total vote. Upon the same plan sev- eral counties in Pennslvania elected jury commis- sioners, and similarly New York State in 1867 35 elected delegates-at-large to constitutional conven- tions. The Pennsylvania plan, he explained, au- thorized each voter to vote for one inspector, while two were to be chosen. In 1870 Illinois, and in 1874 Ohio, adopted the cumulative vote for electing members to the legis- lature, as did Michigan in 1889. In Illinois the members of the lower house are elected by districts returning three members of each, each voter hav- ing three votes. Boston, Massachusetts, in 1889 adopted the limited vote for the election of alder- men. \Miile these two plans may work fairly well in small or stationary constituencies, or where but few candidates are to be elected, or in choosing officers of corporations, they are not adapted for general conditions of modem political life. They involve, usually, a large waste of votes, especially when one candidate is very popular, in which case it is liable to accomplish the veiy opposite of the desired result by giving a minority party a ma- jority of the elected body. This was done in a London school board in 1894, when the Conserva- tive minority elected three out of four directors. Under some circumstances it may give one of three weak parties some chance of representation, but it deprives the voter of independent action, leaving no other choice than one of these which party machinery has provided. The limits of this pamphlet will not permit a de- scription of all the many systems proposed. We urge the importance of the proportional principle and the gross defects of what is incorrectly tenned 86 the majority system, which in fact makes it im- possible for any but small cliques of politicians to lie, as a rule, represented. The Swiss Free List. This was first proposed by Mr. Thomas Gilpin, of Philadelphia, in 1844, but his little pamphlet was long forgotten until resuscitated by a reprint in 1872, and it has been subsequently carried into effect in Switzerland by plans variously modified. Lists of candidates are made up by the several par- ties, each list not exceeding the total number to be elected; each elector has that number of votes, which he casts for the list as a whole, and he may also indicate his preferences for the candidates on the list. The quota is usually ascertained by di- viding the number of votes cast by the number of candidates to be elected; then each party is as- signed as many candidates as there are full quotas, the balance of the candidates being assigned to the several parties by methods which vary; usually those parties receiving the largest fractions of a quota getting the preference. An actual election was held in Berne on Decem- ber 1-5, 1895, which will serve as an example and is better than a general description. Here the ''Droop" quota is used, which consists in divid- ing the total vote cast by the total number of rep- resentatives to be elected phis one, and adding one to the quotient. There were then 22 representatives to be elected. The total vote being 99,640, its division by 23, and 37 291132 one added to the quotient, made the quota 4,333. The following tabulation represents the result: Representatives Votes Party. Vote Polled. Elected. Represented. Liberals 39,907 9 38,977 Socialists 33,091 7 30,331 Conservatives 26,642 6 25,998 Total 99,640 22 95,326 Under the quota used in the Hare system, as well as in some of the Swiss Cantons, the 99,640 would have been divided by 22, and the quotient, 4,529, taken, the Liberals would have got eight full quo- tas and a remainder of 1,388 ; the Consei*vatives five and a remainder of 3,997. But this would only make 20 members. So one more is given the Con- servatives with the largest remainder and one to the Liberals with the next largest. So the result would have been the same. As actually carried out, the lost votes only amounted to 4.3 per cent, of the whole, whereas under actual elections in this State they range from 45 to 53 per cent. The main defects of this system are that it would give party machinery (especially in this country) inore swaj^ than it already has, and raises endless discussions and complications as to the best means of defining the quota and aj^portioning the frac- tions left for unappropriated seats. In Switzer- land politicians are less litigious than in the United States, while parties represent principles, and not trusts and combines for spoils. Hence a system which might work very well there and in other Eu- 38 ropean countries would be entirely unsuitable to American conditions, the first need in genuine political or municipal reform being to suppress party machines and machinists. Such fractions may occur in some elections on several lists and be so large as to amount in the aggregate to two or three quotas. In such cases the divisions will not result in the election of the full number of representatives desired, and the balance has to be provided for in proportion to the remaining fractions. We may show this by the fol- lowing example : Let us assume a place where the Democrats poll 2,400 votes. The Republicans poll 3,600 votes. Total 6,000 votes. With six seats to be filled the quota in this case would be 1,000. To tihe Democrats would be accordingly assigned two seats, leaving a balance of 400 votes. To the Republicans would be accordingly as- signed three seats, leaving a balance of 600 votes. This would seat five representatives, leaving an- other seat to be filled. On account of such diffi- culties this system has undergone some modifica- tions in Switzerland, where it otherwise has worked fairly well, although the ultimate success will have to be determined in the future. In Italy the so-called scrutine di lista, a similar but some- what modified system was adopted in 1882 in ex- pectation of its resulting in the return of represen- tatives with broader and wider views, but it failed in this respect, partly for reasons already stated 39 relating to the working of the party machine, and partly on account of the excessive niunl)er of depu- ties in the Italian chamber (580). In such a large body it would be rather exceptional if mediocrity had not full sway. The D 'IIondt and Hagenbach-Bischoff Systems. As much as we feel tempted to give a fuller de- scription of the D'Hondt and the Hagenbach- Bischoff systems the narrow limits we have to ob- ser\'e do not permit more than to remark tliat Dr. Victor D 'Hondt divides the number of votes on the lists with 1, 2, 3, etc., successively up to the number corresponding with the number of re]3resentatives to be elected ; the quotient resulting from the high- est numl^er is the di\dsion number, which when used as a divisor for the numbers as arranged by numerical potency from the results of the first di- vision gives the number of representatives each ticket is entitled to. Prof. Hagenbach-Bischoff finds the quota by di- viding the total numter of votes by the number to be elected, i)lus one, to which resulting quotient he adds one again before using it as a divisor, as in the D'Hondt system. Each list receives as many representatives ap]3ortioned to it as results from a division of the quota into the number of votes received. Provision is made for cases fail- ing in this way to produce the required number of representatives. 40 CHAPTER V. The Preferential or Hare System^ Sometimes Called the Hare-Cridge System. We now come to what may be called the classical system of Proportional Representation. It has been designated by Ernest Naville of Switzerland the ' ' ideal system. ' ' The practical nse of tlie An- drae system in Denmark for the election of a part of the members of the Landsting, or upper house, dates back to 1856, and was an approach to the Plare system, which latter is an improvement in so far as it adds the preferential feature, and has been much simplified by Sir John Ijubbock, and others, since the valuable book of Thomas Hare appeared. We wall here explain only the most im- proved plan of the Hare system. In this system the quota is ascertained as in the "Free List" system; that is by dividing the total number of votes cast by the number of represent- atives to be elected, fractions being omitted. Each voter votes only for one representative, but at the same time has the } privilege of designating on his ballot by figures in numerical order, his choice or l)references of the candidates. Thus he will place the figure ''1" opposite the name of the candidate whom he most desires to be elected, be the name printed on the top or bottom of the ticket ; ' ' 2 " op- posite the name of the one whom he would ])refer in case the candidate of his first choice might have been elected already before his ballot is reached (in 41 the process of counting) ; or, if lie should not have succeeded to receive a sufficient number of votes to be elected, in which case the voter's vote would be lost without provision for a second, third, and so on, choice. (It is probably best to restrict the voter to a certain number of choices, so as to not give him any advantage over another who would use the privilege without limit.) This simple rule for casting the vote can be printed on each ballot, and this very simple pro- ceeding is all the voter is concerned with and is easy enough understood, so easy that it has been tried in schools where only a few of a large num- ber did not mark the ballots correctly.* The Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco, which used the system for several different an- nual elections of directors, had the following on the ballots : "Seven Directors to be elected. "Number the candidates in the order of j^our preference ; your first choice mark with the figure 1, in the space on the left of your candidate; your second choice mark '2,' j^our third '3,' and so on. Do not duplicate numbers." A thorough mixing up of the ballots precedes the count, to prevent any candidate having any undue advantage over another. F]ach ballot is then se]> arately taken out of the ballot-box, the name of the candidate marked with the number 1 called out, and placed on a separate file prepared beforehand, * Sir John Lubbock justly remarks: "Can any one who does not understand this be called a capable citizen?" 42 or arranged by any other practical or convenient mode. After all the ballots are thus distributed and counted the total number of votes is divided by the number of representatives to be elected, which gives us the quota necessary for an election. From the files of the candidates having a larger number of first choice votes than a quota such sur- plus votes are distributed (the vote of the candi- date having the largest surplus being disposed of first) to the files of the candidates marked "2" on those ballots, and should such candidate be elected already then to the file of the candidate marked "3," and so on until each ballot is made avail- able for some candidate designated and not yet elected. The intention of this procedure is to utilize each vote, or ballot, for the candidate to whom the voter would have given it, as indicated by his numbering thereof, could he have known that his first choice (respectively second, third, and so on), had been elected already without his assistance. After all the surplus votes are thus distributed without having elected the requisite number of representatives, there still remaining candidates whose files do not contain a sufficient number of votes to make up a quota, we will next distribute the ballots of those candidates having the least number of votes to the second, third, fourth choice, and so on, in the same manner as the surplus votes, and as soon as any candidate thus attains a quota he is declared elected and his ballots are separated as stated before and his name not taken in consid- eration any more in the count. This proceeding is 43 kept lip until the total uumlDer of representatives are elected; the remainder being so declared whether they have received a full f|Uota or not. (This last nile obviates the necessity to resort to the "Droop quota" system, to which reference has already been made.) In case of ties some arbitrary rule inay be adopt- ed, either giving preference to the older one of the candidates, or to the one having the largest number of first choice votes ; or, as a last resort, when not against the law, to the casting of the lot. In September, 1892, this process was adopted at the quarterly meeting of the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco for electing annually seven of its fourteen trustees, the essential portions of Section 2, Article IX, of its constitution, as so adopted, be- ing as follows : **Sec. 2. Every member who shall have com- plied with Article VIIT, Sections 1 and 2, at least six months previous to such election, and who is not delinquent, shall be entitled to vote in the elec- tion of trustees. The voting shall Ije by the process known as the preferential method of Proportional Representation, as follows : "Each voter shall have one vote, but may vote in the alternative for as many candidates as he pleases by wiiting the figures 1, 2, 3, etc., oppo- site the names of those candidates in the order of liis preference. "2. The ballot papers having been all mixed, shall be drawn out in succession and stamped with numbers, so that no two shall bear the same num- ber. 44 '^3. The number obtained by dividing the whole number of good ballot papers tendered at the election by the number of Trustees to be elected shall be called the quota. If such number has a fraction, such fractional part shall be deducted. "4. Every candidate who has a number of first votes equal to or greater than the quota shall be elected, and so many of the ballot i)apers contain- ing those votes shall be set aside as the quota of that candidate, in a sealed envelope, and sealed and signed by the judges of election. On all other bal- lot papers the name of such elected candidate shall be cancelled, with the effect of raising by so much in the order of preference all votes given to other candidates after him. This process shall be re- peated until no candidate has more than a quota of first votes or votes deemed first. "5. Then the candidate or candidates having the fewest first votes, or votes deemed first, shall be declared not to be elected, with the effect of raising so much in the order of preference all votes given tO' candidates after him or them, and rule 4 shall be again applied, if possible. ''6. When by successive applications of Rules 4 and 5, the number of candidates is reduced to the number of trustees remaining to be elected, the remaining candidates shall be declared elected." On February 28th, 1893, the seven trustees were elected accordingly. As 905 votes w^ere cast, the quota was 129. Two candidates received 187 and 179 votes respectively as first choice, the distri- bution of their surpluses did not elect any others. By ''elimination" three more received full 45 quotas ; one was elected on 123 votes, and another on 122. There were but 16 ineffective votes, and the whole counting was completed within four hours. It took only two and a quarter hours to finish the count at the fourth election of the Institute con- ducted by that system ; 955 votes had to be counted. At the first election out of five judges and tally clerks, only one had any jirevious experience of the process ; yet none of them experienced the slightest difficulty in the discharge of their func- tions. AATiatever extra time may be required for the transfer of ballots is saved again by the gain in calling off and checking the ballots when no more than one name of the first, second or third, etc., choice have to be considered; while the majority system necessitates the calling off of every name on the ticket. The Gove Plan. This plan or system was named after Mr. Wm. H. Gove, of Salem, Mass., who simplifies the elec- tion as well as the counting by allowing the voter to mark one name only, and by authorizing each candidate to announce officially before the election the names of one or more other candidates on the ticket his surplus or insufficient vote is to be trans- ferred to. The transfer is effected first to such candidate among those not liaving a quota but hav- ing received the next largest number of votes, until such number is secured; then to the one next larger, and so on. 46 The drawbacks of this system are that the voter is deprived of his individual choice in the disposal of the contingent vote, that while the candidate* rijight usnally name alternates from their owii par- ties the Plare plan leaves the voter to exercise his choice freely without regard to party with the sole view to qualities of the candidate. Popular candi- dates would be exposed to excessive importunities on behalf of unfit persons and miglit be induced to ]*lace such persons on tlie list of alternates. The waste of votes would be greater under this system than under the Hare plan, but less than under the *'Pree list." Its advantages over the Hare plan are more rapid casting and counting the vote, and tliat as soon as the votes would be counted at the precincts, anyone with a record of that count and a list of the alternates or contingents of each candidate, could by addition determine what candidates had been elected, and there would be no necessity to remove the ballots from the precinct, except to verify the count; and then should the ballots be lost or stolen on the way, the precinct would still be sufficient to determine the result. Under the Hare plan the bal- lots themselves, or their duplicates, would have to be conveyed, except in municipal elections, to some central point, such as the State capital, to be counted. But it is claimed that the ballots could easily be duplicated automatically, and the objec- tions have no weight as to municipal, societary, corporation and convention elections, in all of which the Hare plan would work without a flaw. The Gove plan is advocated by John M. Berry, of Worcester, Mass., an able and energetic pio- 47 neer of electoral reform, who is addicted to the compilation of unanswerable statistics against the myth of majority rule. It hardly needs to be stated that Proportional liepresentation has met with objections ; but what reform, invention, improvement or innovation has not f Historical facts without number may be cited in proof of this assertion; but in our time, when events follow another in c[uick succession, every one may be able to supply the proof from the storehouse of his own exjjerience. Only two of what seem with our i)reseDt experience very amus- ing instances may be concisely related from state- ments in A. Ti. Conklin's book (Citj" Government in the United States. New York, Appleton, 1894) : AVhen in 1853 a bill was pending in the legislature of the State of New York for the establishment of the so-called Central Park of the Citj^ of New York tliere appeared before the committee on cities Ijrominent taxpayers of the above-named city op- posing the project, arguing that their money would be squandered in laying out beautiful grass plots planted with flowers and shrubbery, because the rabble would overrun these places and ruin them. The same author also relates how the people of Boston and New York brickbatted the first steam fire-engine and hooted its inventor. Those who have thought the Hare system un- workable have been answered by John Stuart Mill, who says: "These it will be found are generally I)eople who have barely heard of it, or have given it a very slight and cursory examination." How matters apparently complicated and unwieldy can be easily moved and expedited by being properly 48 arranged and systematized was strikingly shown by the handling of the last Spanish war bond issue of 200 million dollars by the Treasury Department, as related by Hon. Frank A. Vanderslip in the *'Formn" of September, 1898, We can only give a small excerpt, abbreviated at times, of this in more than one respect interesting article. He says: ''The task of handling the loan has been one that few people have comprehended," as there had to be an amount of detail overcome ' ' such as had been unknown in the previous experience of the depart- ment. * * * The task was one that was clearly the greatest clerical undertaking in which the government ever engaged in the same lengih of time. " Tn a little over twenty-four hours from the receipt of the first copies of the four million circulars and instruction blanks the mails carried them to every bank, postmaster and express office; details were also sent to twenty-four thousand newspapers. ''In less than three hours after the close of the loan every corporation subscription was in the mail with a letter of rejection, and eveiy individual subscription for amounts of $50,000 and over was also on its return trip with a similar letter. Seven hours after the subscription closed the department was able to announce quite accurately where the line would be drawn below which all subscriptions would be allotted. AVlien it is remembered that the complex process of official bookkeeping, the collection of remittances, tlie mailing of notification of receipts and allotments, the making of card in- dexes and in the writing of small checks covering the interest of the subscription to August 1 (the 49 date when the bonds began carrying interest) some idea of tlie clerical labor involved may be had. Allotments were made to practically three hundred thousand successful subscribers. Multiply that by twelve and recollect that every entry of a name had to have an independent notification, and it will be seen that the writing of three million six hundred thousand names was a task of no mean propor- tions. ' ' But this does not include the work of re- turning one million two hundred thousand sub- scriptions, nor the correspondence resulting from errors made by subscribers. Twenty people were required to open the envelopes with the bids, and as each package with allotments had five seals put on, a total of one million five hundred thousand wax seals was required. And all this work was done, and more, which space does not permit men- tioning, by five hundred clerks employed "without regard to civil service rules. Legibility of hand- writing and good moral character were the tests imposed. ' ' After the practical tests Proportional E.epresen- tation has had in a smaller way in the election for six years of trustees of the Mechanics' Institute of this city, and in many other instances in various parts of the world too numerous to refer to here, there can hardly be any doubt of its practicability in public elections. 50 CHAPTER VI. What Propoetional Eepresentation Will Do OR Prevent. One need not be as enthusiastic about the ex- pected results of Proportional Representation as John Stuart Mill, who said of the Hare system that ''it will be recognized as alone just in principle, as one of the greatest of all practical improvements and as the most efficient possible safeguard of further parliamentary refomis." Neither is it necessary to go as far as A. R. Conklin, the au- thor already referred to, who says that "there is no hope for improvement in city government in the United States until Proportional Representation can be established," but the most conservative claim can be established that it will do away with corruption to a very large extent. It would make a second house superfluous in municipal and legis- lative bodies at least ; it would prevent riot and un- necessary excitement at elections, and as Sir John Lubbock says, "it secures the three great requi- sites of representation, namely: Power of major- ity, hearing of minority, and the representation of every considerable party by its best and ablest leaders. ' ' The corruption or coercion of a number of voters could not affect any important practical results, be- cause the corruption of as large a number as makes a quota, which means mostly thousands of votes in practical politics, could only result in an insig- 51 nificant numerical gain in tlie representative body. Tlie object in view by electing an ni)per house as a check on the ])opulaT branch of a legislative body, besides incurring an extra exj^ense would be found useless, its function would be transferred to a watchful and responsible minority, with the full re- sponsibility throwTi on the one house, obviating thereby the practice of one liouse throwing the re- sponsibility on the other to escape from it. Riot and unnecessaiy excitement will lose their incentives because there cannot be any overbalan- cing of the entire result of an election by a com- paratively small number of voters or so-called "piece parties," as almost all the votes are effect- ive, only a few are unrepresented, and each party has no more influence than it has strength. The truth of the above assertion was dem^onstrated in the Swiss Canton of Ticino. We have still to add that it would relegate the so-called ]iolitical boss to the unemployed. He is the one who now has to provide the "i)iece parties," the small overbalan- cing vote, the corrupting influences. He could not then overbalance the opposing party with the vote of a few followers ; all he could do would be to get representation in proportion to his following. There is no claim made for Proportional Kepi-e- sentation that it would be a cure for all evils of the body politic, but it surely would be a great step in advance toward bringing the legislative bodies nearer to the people. That other i)roblems will still remain to be solved is in the natural order of things and can be learned by reading the histoiy of every civilization. As one of the remaining prob- lems may be mentioned the excessive number of 52 representatives the most of tliese assemblages are composed of, whereby their usefulness for effective work as deliberative bodies is largely impaired. In proof of this assertion it can be stated that in the 54th Congress of the United States the Senate, consisting of 90 members, passed 1682 bills and joint resolutions, while the House of Representa- tives of the same Congress, with 357 members, dis- posed of but 1,200; and it can hardly be success- fully maintained that in the latter body more scnipulous attention is paid to the work before it than in the former. Preceding Congresses make a similar showing. Literature. The scant knowledge of Proportional Represen- tation generally found among the people, its rep- resentatives included, is not the fault of a lack of literature on the subject ; in fact, a voluminous lit- erature has been produced ever since Thomas Hare wrote his valuable book in 1859, in several lan- guages, including the Japanese, and earnest work- ers are found in almost every country with a par- liamentary government. As may be expected the success is only a slow and gradual one. Within the last few years it can be noticed also that no writer on governmental science can afford to omit calling attention to it. Among them we find A. Laurence Lowell, E. H. Lecky and vVlbert Shaw. Others have been mentioned already. It is not to give additional strength to the move- ment, nor to add any great original ideas that this has been written, but to give in a condensed form 53 some general information on the subject, whicli tHe average citizen, for lack of time, is usually not in the position to acquire from books or essays con- taining long and exhaustive treatment of the sub- ject. 54 APPENDIX. (By Robert Tyson.) Since my friend, Alfred Cridge, prepared this pamphlet, some developments have taken place which make it desirable to add something in the shape of an appendix. I shall aso take the oppor- tunity of making some remarks on certain of Mr. Cridge 's views. Direct Legislation by the Referendum and Initiative. The advocates of Direct Legislation are coming more and more to recognize Proportional Repre- sentation as a valuable adjunct to their reform, and they do not now advocate D. L. as a substitute for representative government. The way the two re- forms are going hand in hand is evidenced by such facts as these: The quarterly ''Direct Legislation L'ecord" and the "Proportional Representation Review" are published together. Eltweed Pom- eioy, George H. Shibley, and other leaders of the D. L. movement personally favor P. R., and often mention it in their writings. Proportionalists realize that in many cases it is through the opera- ton of D. L. that P. R. will be brought about. Mr. Cridge 's criticism of D. L. applies to the older as- pect of D. L., and to its being used as a substitute for representative government. But the situation 55 has been greatly changed by the newer B. L. pro- ])Osals, and by the admirable practical methods of the National Federation for INfajority Rule. An Optional Keferendum is now almost universally advocated, which gives a real veto of the people on bad legislation. The difficulty Mr. Cridge men- tions as to the Initiative can be largely overcome by setting out in full at the head of the petition the measure asked for, and having a provision that when that measure is submitted to the people the Legislature can submit an amended measure of its own, and let the people choose which measure they will have, if either. Proportional IIepresentation in Belgium. The Kingdom of Belgium has adopted Propor- tional Representation for all parliamentaiy elec- tions. The act amending the Electoral Code so as to provide for "la Representation Proportionelle, " passed both the Legislative Chambers in 1899, re- ceived the royal assent of Leopold II, and was promulgated in the "]\[oniteur Beige" (the official journal or gazette) on December 30th, 1899. Proportional Representation was used at the Belgian general election in May, 1900, and again in the general elections of 1902. The system used is the Free List with the Single Vote. Count Goblet d'Alviella (Count Saint Etienne, Belgium) has published an excellent l)ook on the subject, en- titled "La Representation Proportionnelle en Belgique: Hi stone d'une Reforme." It is writ- ten in the French language. I have received sev- 56 era! letters from Count d'Alviella, and qnote a pas- sage from his letter of the 9th of August : "Of course, there are some improvements which it would he desirable to introduce into the workings of our ])roi)ortional sj^stem in order to minimize the number of lost votes, and different schemes have been put forward to secure this ; but the prin- ciple, and even our application of it, are not ques- tioned any more, save by a few politicians of the old schools." The Haee System in Tasmania. Six elections under the Hare system have been held in Tasmania, the last one being in 1901, when Tasmania's Senatoi's for the Australian Common- wealth were proportionally elected. After that election the Hare system was abolished, and the old plan revei-ted to. Why this was done is explained by the following extract from a speech of Senator Keating, of Tasmania: "It has been said that the Hare system was abandoned after a second trial, but the truth was that after its adoption for two general elections Parliament decided to apply it to the whole of the State for the election of members of the Federal Parliament. It was then that certain politicians became dissatisfied. There had been sixteen can- didates for the Australian Senate, and when the State was polled as one constituency the result was a large predominance of new blood, five out of the six elected being new men. There was much heart- burning among a few politicians, who at ordinary elections and in small constituencies, had found it possible to score, but who in a wider area, where parocliial consideration gave way to national, were left out in the cold. Thus it came about that when the revision of the electoral law was under consid- eration, those jjersons, who lield seats in the State Parliament did not favor tlie enlargement of the districts, without which effective voting was im- possible, and for the sake of uniformity it was de- cided, even in the case of the towns, to revert to the older and more effete method of voting. There had never been any organized attempt to upset ef- fective voting in Tasmania. All the papers spoke with one voice in its favor and condemned Parlia- ment for dropping it. ' ' The Hare System in South Australia. Miss Catharine Helen Spence and Mrs. Jeanne Young are actively promoting an agitation for the adoption of the Hare-Spence system in the State of South Australia, with such success that a majority of the Upper House is pledged to the support of a bill to use the system in State elections, whilst in the Lower House many members are favorable. The close of the session of the State Legislature has thrown the bill over until 1904, but many prom- inent men favor the principle, and prospects for its passage are bright. The Cumulative Vote and Limited Vote. In Illinois the wretched little attempt at propor- tionalism has been a flat failure, as might have been expected from the adoption of districts returning only three members each, and the defective plan 58 adopted. To give proportional representation a fair chance, it should be used in districts electing not less than five members each ; seven or nine would be better still. The Limited Vote is a poor makeshift. It was used in the city of Toronto, Canada, for a while for legislative elections, but w^as dropped. The Swiss Free List. Some of the defects Mr. C ridge points out would he. remedied by the use of the Single Vote : that is, that each voter should have only one vote, instead of being given an equal vote for several candidates. The use of the Single Vote was one of the greatest improvements introduced by Belgium over the Swiss system. I regard multiple voting as an abomination. The Hare-Spence System. Mr. Cridge does not mention one of the most valuable uses of the Hare-Spence system, namely: its use in what may be tenned ' ' meeting-room elec- tions." That is the election of officers aiid com- mittees of voluntary associations. It is much used in this way by Canadian organized labor. Such a use of it is really one of the most effective means of propaganda ; but unless the principle is thoroughly understood, difficulties may be met in working. I have recently compiled a small ''book of rules ' ' which may be found useful in this con- nection, and will send one on application. Another very practical use of the Hare-Spence S9 system is its ado])tion in the election of single of- ficers, such as Mayor, President, or Secretary. Only the preferential part of the system is used, there being no ''quota" to be got. The working is simple, accurate and easily understood. Its ad- vantages are that it gives a free choice of candi- dates and insures a clear majority at one balloting. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the pro- vince of Ontario, Canada, have adopted this plan for the election of their Grand Officers by their membership of about 25,000. The San Francisco Mechanics' Institute. I regret to state that the use of the Hare Spence system has been dropped in this Institute, and a bare majority of the voters can now put in all the the trustees. I am informed that this is due to a lack of interest of the members generally in the government of the institution, and to the persistent opposition of a few interested and influential mem- bers. The Gove Plan. I greatly admire the Gove plan. It has the cardi- nal merits of simjilicity, accuracy, and workable- ness. Anybody can understand it and, understand- ing it, can understand the principle of pro- portional repi-esentation. I do not think that candidates would be induced to put unfit persons on their list of alternates. In prac- tice the list of alternates would be decided by a committee of the candidate's active 60 supporters in consultation with him. Those put on the list would be men of the same party as the candidate, or those in harmony with his opinions ; and these are just the persons whom in most eases the voter himself would choose. The making of an improper list would seriously injure a candidate's chances ; whilst the very making of a list is useful information to the voter as to the political position of the candidate, especially if independently nomi- nated. The chief drawback of the Gove plan is that it cannot conveniently be used in meeting-room elec- tions ; but this refers of course only to the question of propaganda. Simplicity. The bane of Proportional Representation has been the complexities introduced by those who aim at an impossible and needless mathematical accu- racy. In most actual elections the candidates who head the poll on the count of first choices are those ultimately elected. This was the case in every elec- tion in Tasmania. Therefore the transfers are of secondary importance, and the essential point is the use of the single vote. Let me illustrate this. If you are to elect a committee of five by a hun- dred voters on the proportional principle, the counting finally divides the voters into five groups of about twenty, each group electing one candidate. When you have nine candidates, the use of the single vote will divide your voters into nine un- equal groups to begin with. If the votes are trans- ferable on the Hare or Gove plan, then your nine 61 groups are gradually reduced to five groups by tlie transfers. Now, in practice, the five larger groups of the nine are those which usually draw to them- selves the units of the four smaller groups, but not always, although it scarcely ever makes a differ- ence of more than one candidate. The larger the number of candidates, the less sure it is that the five men heading the poll on first count will be elect- ed. Therefore the use of some plan of transfer is necessary as a safeguard, but when the transfer is a minor feature, wiiy place so much stress on the particular method, and why introduce endless complications? The common people object to sub- mitting their ballots to a complicated system of counting which they cannot understand. EOBERST TYSON. Toronto, Canada, February 14th, 1903. d2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. (From The Star^ San Francisco, January 18th, 1902.) On Monday (Januarj^ 13th, 1902) there passed away a grand old man whose name was not alto- gether unkno'^Ti to fame, and whose life was covered and crowned with glory — not that ephem- eral and empty glory which comes from Avealth or high position in society or state, but that eternal glory which must follow a life of useful, volimtary service to humaoiitj^ Alfred Cridge embodied the best of all there is in human nature. He was truly one who loved his fellow men, and because he loved them he lived for them, never for a moment giving thought to self. He was associated with The Star during nearly all the time it has been published, and the relations between us have always been something more than that of friends. Pie taught us, by his nobility of character and gentle nature, to regard him with filial affection, almost as a father. Alfred Cridge was born in Newi:on, England, December 10, 1824. His father, Eichard Cridge, was all his life in the service of the British Govern- ment, retiring on a pension at an advanced age. "\\Tien about twelve years of age, Alfred Cridge G3 moved with his parents from England to Toronto, Canada, lie inlierited a good constitution, and was well educated. He very early in life manifest- ed strong humanitarian sympathies, and became an enthusiastic Abolitionist upon removing to Ohio, shortly after attaining his majority. At that time, magazines, books, and periodicals, were not de- livered by the postoffice, but by special agents, and Mr. Oridge in this capacity traveled extensively through all the States west of the Mississippi, ob- taining in a few years a thorough knowledge of their social conditions, and of the "peculiar insti- tution" of chattel slavery. In April, 1854, he married Miss Annie Denton, of Da^^on, Ohio, an English school teacher, who, like himself, was much interested in the progress- ive movements of the day. For several years, under great difficulties and in spite of privations and antagonisms, he published the "Vanguard," in Dayton, Ohio, and afterwards in Kichmond, In- diana, a paper devoted to consideration of social and economic conditions and the abolition of slav- eiy. In 1861, with his wife, and two children, he re- moved to Washington, being first in the United States Secret Service and afterwards in the Quar- termaster-General 's office. Before the close of the Civil War he was made Chief Clerk of the In- spection Di\^sion, a position which he held until 1875 — and in which he might have become a mil- lionaire as others did at that time in like positions, some of whom arc to-day honored members of so- ciety and high in the councils of state. Money 64 could not allure him ; in fact, the only use he ever seemed to have even for his salary was to promote the principles in which he believed. During all these years he continued to* use his pen in behalf of his fellow men. Until the Eman- cipation Proclamation he would not take out citi- zenship in the United States because of the exist- ence of slavery, but iimnediately did so when chat- tel slaveiy ceased. In 1870, he became interested in the colony of Riverside, Southern California, and Ms family removed there to reside, while he remaind in Wash- ing-ton most of the time to provide means to build up a home. In 1875, the death of his wife left him discour- aged in mind and unsettled in life generally. He undertook to be an agriculturalist, with but poor success. His weapon was the pen, and he soon took it up again. In 1877, he came to San Francisco, and began a career in this city which lasted for a quarter of a century. At times, his journalistic life took him to Stockton, San Jose, Eureka, and other places, where in various capacities he demonstrated his great abilities as a writer, speaker, reporter, and thinker. Mr. Cridge's attention was first drawn to the defective character of our so-called representative system in 1868, by a lecture delivered in Philadel- phia by United States Senator Buckalew. Mr. Cridge made a thorough investigation of the sub- ject, simplified it, and devoted the remainder of his life to it, becoming the world's foi-emost advo- 65 cate of proportional representation. He has exer- cised a pronounced influence over legislation in the Australian colonies and Tasmania, to him being due the impetus which the preferential vote has gained in that quarter of the world. Upon coming to San Francisco he established a voluntaiy correspondence bureau and agitation committee of one, and year in and year out cor- responded with those interested in this and other reforms throughout the world. In proportion to means and opportunity, he did more than any one else in this country to further proportional re])re- sentation and direct legislation. ISTothing damp- ened his ardor; nothing could prevent him from speaking and writing for the ref omi, ' ' small in it- self, but productive of great results," as he was wont to* say. At times others came forward to help him, at times they fell away, but first, last, and all the time, he toiled early and late that the world might be the better fitted for the dwelling of men. He was among the pioneers who adopted the doc- trines of Hemy George. They were what he had been looking for all his life — a solution of the land (juestion — and he never missed an opportunity, in public and private, to teach the gospel. He ful- filled beyond measure Croasdale's definition of a single taxer — ''one who does something for the single tax." In August, 1897, he was appointed by Mayor Phelan as one of the Committee of One Hundred to draw up a charter for the government of San Francisco, being later elected as one of the fifteen Freeholders for the same purj^ose. Here began his special work for the initiative and referendum, he regarding the former as the John the Baptist of Ijroportional representation. He succeeded beyond his expectations, so that the initiative was distinct- ly embodied in the New Charter, but for which that instrument, with its undemocratic, one-man power, and other serious defects, would have been defeated. To Mr. Cridge, therefore, more than to any other force, must be given whatever credit is due for the adoption of the Charter, which, had all the various provisions he suggested been accepted, would to-day give us the most advanced municipal government in the United States. He was a true American — a .Jeffersonian Demo- crat, an ardent believer in and upholder of the principles of the Declaration of Independence — and as such he warmly opposed tlie Administra- tion's un-American policy in the Philippines, and all his broad sympathies were with the South Afri- can Republics in their heroic struggle against Brit- ish aggression. In matters of finance he was a child, and was frequently taken cruel advantage of by petty sharp- ers and adventurers, under the guise of interest in his reforms. But in economics, logic, and bedrock reasoning he was a past-master. He leaves no fortune for lawyers and relatives to divide, only a memory of good deeds, patient service, a life of continual sacrifice for others. He stood on a mountain and told of the good time coming, and pointed out the pathway by which the nations and peoples of the earth could reach the promised land. He passed away full of confidence 67 that those reforms foT which he sacrificed and toiled for decade after decade, would speedily come to be realized. He leaves one son, Alfred D. Cridge, of Hanford, California, and a daughter, Mrs. W. H. Smith, of I*alo Alto', in whose sorrow many in this commun- ity and good men and women in every quarter of the globe will share. On AVednesday last he was laid to rest. Rev. Dr. Scott olTficiated and delivered an eulog>' wortliy of his theme. ^Wn\e going to the grave, Mr. Cridge 's son, Al- fred Denton, remarked to us: "I would rather have my father leave me what he did, an honored name, and such a record, than all of Tiockefeller 's wealth." Aye; and we would rather l^e Alfred Ciidge, with a consciousness of the good we know he wrought, than be a willing instrument, though it brought us millions, to sustain the institutions of special privilege (which make both millionaires and paupers) against which he fought, and the aboli- tion of which alone can make men free. His gentle s])irit is with the God he loved and served by loving and serving his fellow men. "VYe miss him, but do not mourn him. He Jived a good, noble and useful life, seven years beyond tlje allotted time of man. He kept the faith, he fought the fight. He did not see the fi-uition of his hopes, but he saw the light breaking and knew that it would soon be day. The seed he planted will expand and 1iear fruit which the world will en- joy. Such a man never dies. He lives in his works, which are immortal. He lives in the minds and hearts of all who- knew him, who revere his mem- ory. He believed — There is no death. The stars go down To rise upon some fairer shore, And bright in heaven's jeweled crown, They shine for evermore. And ever near us, though unseen. The dear immortal spirits tread ; For all the boundless universe Is life : — there are no dead. m uyc^ y^ J^m^y)^, m 7 4 13 % UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below -i^ttRS DEC 6 i94&;;;','jj^^ Qf c. j ^A^ 9 t949 FEB 7 1951 AUG 3 19514 OCT 2 7 ^^^:<^ , JAHfOtaW 7«l} ■• JAN2118I8V„„ 1990 Form L-9 lOm-3, '39(7752) UMIVKKSITY OF CALIFORNU AT 1.03 ANGEIaES TIBRARY L 006 313 516 4 '■!('■!.. ' •■''/ii::..'' :^>- \r\.|^ ilr''^