People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1893 — A NEW IDEA. [ARTICLE]

A NEW IDEA.

Preliminary Address of the Committee of the World’s Pair Congress Auxiliary oa a Congress of the Advocate# and Friends of Proportional Representation. The World’s Congress Auxiliary of the World’s Columbian exposition, having called a series of international congresses on political, social and economic reform, to meet in Chicago during the summer of 1893, has in this connection provided for the holding of a conference of the advocates of proportional representation, assigning therefor the use of ample rooms and meeting halls, and proposing to arrange for the printing of the proceedings. The local committee of arrangements for the holding of this international proportional representation congress, desires to urge upon the advocates of this reform throughout th e world, the importance of the opportunity thus presented, and the advisability of taking advantage of it by a gathering which will indicate the progress and strength of the cause. The conference on proportional representation will constitute a section of the congress on suffrage, in republic, kingdom and empire. In all countries in which representative government obtains, there is a growing conviction in the minds of the more intelligent citizens that the present method of electing representatives must be changed. They are coming to see that a system by which a political unit, whether it be a city, state or nation, is divided into a number of arbitrary districts, from each of which one representative is chosen by a majority or plurality of votes, though seemingly fair upon its face is really destructive of the very end sought—government by the people. Tho successful candidates necessarily represent only the citizens who voted for them, and, as a majority of the members of legislative bodies control their action, laws may be passed by the representatives of a small minority of the people. A careful analysis of city councils, state legislatures and the United States congress, shows that a majority of their members represent but from one-fifth to one-fourth of the voters who participated in the election. For a government by the representatives qf a majority of the people there has been substituted a government by a majority of the representatives of a minority of the people. Such a state of affairs necessarily begets a multitude of evils. The members of a party which has a decided majority in a district, conscious of their power, become intolerant and tyrannical; while those of the minority parties in their hopelessness become apathetic and take little interest in political affairs. The withdrawal of the better classes of citizens from active participation in practical politics leaves public affairs in the hands of professional politicians, to the scandal of popular government. In place of this unnatural and unjust system the proportional representationists are prepared to present <• method based upon tho principle of perfect equality of the voters, a method which secures the rule of tho real majority, and at the same time gives the minority the full representation to which its numbers entitle it, a method which is simple, just and exact. By abolishing the districts and apportioning the representatives among the various parties or bodies of voters according to their voting strength, representative government will be in fact what it is now in theory —a government of the people, for the people and by the people. There will be no hopeless minorities and wasted majorities penned up in arbitrary districts; every vote will bear directly upon the final result; and every candidate will be voted for or against by every voter. Gerrymandering will be done away with, the balance of power held by bands of citizens voting as a unit destroyed and a premium put upon the nomination of fit men for office. Every independent voter will be free to join hands with his fellows and secure the representation to which their numbers entitle them. The election of the representatives of new ideas will be facilitated; and the very ease with which these representatives can be elected will he as a spur to the dominant parties in their endeavor to present the best men and ideas for the approval of the voters. Men will be represented instead of territory. It is manifest that some form of proportional representation should' take the place of the present system, and it is of the greatest importance that the advocates of the various forms should meet and discuss their relative merits. The time and circumstances of the proposed meeting are peculiarly propitious. In addition to the great exposition which will gather people from all parts of the earth,' there will come the representatives of all schools and phases of political, economic and social reform, mid the conferences here held will arrest the attention of thinking men and women throughout the world. Here the practical working of proportional representation in Denmark and Switzerland may be laid before the world, in demonstration of the fact that it if not an idle theory still in the realm of speculative philosophy. Representatives of the societies in England, France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland can unfold their plans of propaganda, to the encouragement of the advocates in America and Australia.

During this conference it is hoped not only that an American society of proportional representation may be formed, but that an international association may also- be organized. ; This, apart from any other consideration, should secure the attendance of the many friends and advocates of the reform, scattered throughout all countries. It is the purpose of this address to, elicit from persons interested, in all parts of the world, such suggestions as will promote the highest utility and success of the proposed proportional representation congress. All persons to whom this address shall be. sent, and others interested to whom knowledge of it shall come, are therefore cordially invited, at their earliest convenience, to favor the undersigned committee

with subjects to be considered iu th* proposed congress, the names of persons especially well qualified to present such subjects, and any other reeomnfendations which may be deemed conducive to the end in view. The proportional representation congress will meet under the auspices of the world’s congress auxiliary of the world’s Columbian exposition, in the city of Chicago, in the week commencing on Monday, August 7, 1893. ' The programme will be announced in ample time. Persons who expect to attend this congress will confer a favor upon the committee by advising it of the fact. Address all communications to Stoughton Cooley, Secretary, 22 Fifth ave., Chicago.