| Show LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION The only fair and equitable plan of apportionment and representation for legislative purposes that can be adopted is in our opinion one based upon population contiguity and reasonable rea-sonable economy The population theory Is that followed lowed in the representative system of the United States The House Is com r 1 posed of Representatives elected from representative districts That makes it a popular assembly It could not be that on any other principle The Legislature of Utah ought to be organized organ-ized on a similar basis as to principle but different as to numbers to form a representative district First It should be determined how many members shall constitute each House ot the Assembly Next the districts should be organized from which those members shall be elected The number should be sufficient to afford a fair representation of all the people but not too many to make the Assembly unwieldy and likely to increase i in-crease discussion The Senate should have about half as many members as the House The enlargement of the body directly representative of the people in the atIonal Congress has not assisted as-sisted In the transaction of the public business There are too many men on each side of public questions Debates De-bates are lengthened out and much time is wasted by multiplied speeches along the same lines of argument There is no need for a very large Assembly As-sembly at present in Utah ttt would be more costly and less compact than a smaller body It would thus cause a waste of time as well as money The legislative districts should be composed of people who lva in the same vicinity There must be no shoestrlnging or arbitrary divisions or connections for party ends The county boundaries are not equitable lines for legislative purposes It Is not mere territory that is to Ibe represented repre-sented in the legislature but people County interests and ambitions ought not to figure in an Assembly which is to make general laws for the whole state The respective counties are so widely disproportloned as to population popula-tion that they are totally nmadapted for legislative districts The idea that each county must have at least one member and that the num ber may be increased for the very large counties is a mingling of two opposite principles in the formation of representative districts One is the principle of area the other of population popula-tion and they are incongruous It would also necessitate a body too numerous for the needs of the state I and cause an expenditure that would not detrimental only be unnecessary but would be I we hope there are not enough delegates dele-gates wedded to a fad to permit the establishment of the legislature on any other principle than population asa as-a basis for representation That there will be no attempt to link together distant and unattached localities In the same district And that the dispatch dis-patch of public business at the least reasonable public expense will be kept In view when the legislative apportionment appor-tionment and representation is decided upon onA |
