Show LIVE QUESTIONS A acrie of artie 1 e contributed to the thea columns by advanced ad ed shakers Thio Th kers akers X TIIE UNITED mal STATES NOT A goerl THE A study of the election netum of proves conclusively that our representative is ia a de delusion lasion and a per for instance massachusetts with a republican vote of secures 13 12 representatives while tile democrats with ballots polled ate aie depre rented by only one congressman or over 7 aj j democratic citizens must go 50 to tho the polls to equal the representative power of one ona republican today illinois ii entitled to one re pub licau congressman congro Esman tor for every voters but it t takes akes democrats to gain one le ie or like massachusetts the proportion against the democrats is ovar 7 to 1 la in ohio it requires laires re over six times as many voters to elect one democrat as aa it does a republican representative in new york state the recent vote stands for every republican representative while requiring democrats to accomplish the same sama results though in the congressional election returns of 1892 it took democrats to equal republicans dear old conservative pennsylvania secures 1 28 3 republican congressmen for ballots polled while the democrats have only two for votes have the democrats of the state sunk so BO low that it requires over eight of them to offset one republican if this state had had proportional representation sen tation the representation would have bay stood 18 republicans 11 democrats and I 1 prohibitionist in ili the states of iowa michigan and wisconsin the democrats with over six eis times the republican quota have no democratic representation at all indiana leads off as the worst depre anted state in tho union the dom dam cast almost I 1 11 I 1 times the quota of the republicans and yet have not even one representative the peoples party adherents polled votes in excess of the average quota and yet in most of the states with no representation sen tation at all georgia populists lists cast nearly seven times tile the quota of the democrats aud and yet aro are not cot represented while in texas they have aln ovit ost ten tea times the democratic quota with the samo same results in 1892 the populists lists cast votes 1 securing 12 1 representatives yet in the last art election at the polling more votes than in 1892 they have only seven congressmen today the tha prohibitionists are not represented at all in congress yet they cast a vote which would entitle them under proportional representation to three congressmen these figures prove that our whole system of representation is manifestly unjust the wonder is that wo we have submitted to it so long the evil lies in our district system suppose there were votes cast in each of the be 30 congressional districts of pennsylvania each district being entitled to one representative with five parties in each district the vote standing thus prohibitionists peoples party single tabers republicans democrats yet the mere fact that the democrats cast 1 1000 more votes thau than any one party a plurality of 1000 votes not a majority entitles them under the present to the one representative and the remaining people are not represented at all 1 carry this illa illustration through the 30 congressional districts and we find people s m party single tabers republicans and democrats lo 10 and behold the democrats march off with the whole 30 congressmen leaving men who actually went to the polls and voted edl I 1 Is it right Is it justice that the minority of the total vote should mate make the laws for the be majority must the political fight always narrow itself to two great parties Is there bereno no hope tor for the many reform movements must most corruption and bribery run ran rampant that one party may succeed by a few votes Is there no lemely or must we continue to practically a large proportion of the men who actually go to the polls and vote there is a ai emody and that remedy is proportional which is that each political party within city county or state is entitled to representation in proportion to the number of each patty casts to secure it wo we mufit first abolish all district lines hues for instance to return to our previous of pennsylvania abolish abolin h all the 80 districts mating making the futato into one large suppose the voting power is balloting for SO 30 congressmen justice would demand lein buil that every one of nf the voters or every ineil should receive on representative thirty thousand volos voles is then the quotin quoin with this result the prohibitionists are entitled to 4 congressmen tile tho peoples party to 6 tile the aichle tabers republicans and democrats to 6 7 find aud 8 congressmen respectively under proportional representation the file democrats irth instead tead ot of having the whole SO 30 congressmen deceive the proportion to which their number dumber of votes entitled them more no less Is not ill chii 3 J justice ustice many people have a dread of adopting any new system thinking it tl ti hold to an impelled ono one rather than advocate one which lias has not received the test of 0 experience but unfortunately proportional representation resen tation lias has stopped from the theoretical to the practical field of politics it is in operation in several of 0 the cantons of and has met with each overwhelming success that tt it is only a matter of getting the political machine started when all the cantons of swit Switz will adopt it today only one party can win la in any an one district Botn lt bilbery and corruption in order to be that one party under proportional representation evil all parties can call gain presentation ic an any y party can print the names of their candidates on the regular ballot provided that baity can show they can command 1 per cent of the tha total voting power today it is practically cally impossible for prohibitionists or single tabers to kain gain the balance of power with any one district but under onder this system the single tabers could unite all over the state to send one or more representatives to congress or to the state legislature then a man will vote with a knowledge that it will count for the party and principles in which he is interested for any economic or political reform movement desiring to work along the line of least resistance proportional representation res resen tation is the quickest method to secure real and practical progress all of whatever political shade of opinion can unite on this platform the farmers should take warning from the great loss of voting power and energy of the pop ulises who in 1891 1894 secured only seven representatives after polling votes which under proportional representation would have entitled them to 40 members in congress a loss of 23 33 members F first arst secure proportional represents representation then reformers can step into the political arena with the tha knowledge that every vote tells once in the field of action people will consider it worth their while to study your principles As it is ia now dow the reformers are practicably atly dis franchised franchis eds having no DO voice in the tha lawmaking ot of mhd aird t f katherr N n J philadelphia |