CHAPTER VI.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

THE CUMULATIVE VOTE.

THE Cumulative Vote is that system under which each elector has as many votes as there are members to be elected in his constituency, and may "cumulate" them all on one candidate, or divide them between the different candidates in any proportion he pleases.

This system was first suggested by Mr. James Garth Marshall in 1857. In 1870 it was adopted for the election of School Boards. It is also in actual operation in Illinois, and elsewhere.

It was considered that the introduction of proportional representation into School Board elections would contribute to the satisfactory working of our educational system, because a School Board, composed entirely of Churchmen on the one hand, or of Dissenters on the other, would, however unjustly, be regarded with suspicion.

On the other hand, the result of the cumulative system. has been that the School Boards in our great cities contain representatives of every important section in the con

stituency; and the representatives of the Education Department have recently given evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons that this has greatly contributed to the successful working of the Education Act.

Still it must be admitted that the system leads to a great loss of voting power. For instance, in the first Marylebone election (November, 1870), seven members having to be returned, the votes were as follows—

It will be seen that Miss Garrett received no less than 47,858 votes, while, under the circumstances, 8,000 would have elected her. Nearly 40,000 votes out of the 48,000 were therefore wasted, and it is obvious that if Miss Garrett's supporters had known their strength, they would have desired to vote so as to secure the return of other candidates sharing their opinions. The Marylebone election was certainly an extreme case, but there have been many others in which the same phenomenon. has been repeated.

It must be observed that when the cumulative vote was proposed by Mr. Marshall, voting was open, and it is obvious that the introduction of the Ballot has greatly affected the problem, by rendering the operation of the system more uncertain than would otherwise have been the case.

No doubt the cumulative vote works much more satisfactorily in constituencies returning only three members. It has been adopted in the amended constitution of the State of Illinois, and the results have been thus described in a letter by Mr. Medill to the Cincinnati Commercial (Dec. 2, 1872)—

"For the first time in the history of political organizations each party is represented from every portion of the State, and the aggregate representation is exactly in proportion to the numerical strength of each party. Thus the Republicans have elected 86 members of the House, and the Democrats 67. The Republican vote of the State was 240,837; the Democratic vote (including O'Conor's) was 187,250. This would give an average of 2800 Republican votes cast for each Republican member, and 2790 Democratic votes cast for each member of that persuasion.

"What could be more equal or mathematically exact? The majority party have complete control, but the minority party have just the representations they are entitled to on principles of equality. Had the House been elected on the "grab-all" method, it would stand, Republican 99, Democrat 54. We elected our Senate by single districts, and the Republicans carried 33 districts and the Democrats but 18. Divide the total Republican vote by the number of senators elected, and the quotient is about 7300 votes to each. Divide the Democratic vote by their senators elected, and their quotient is about 10,400. Thus you perceive the Democrats are not nearly represented in the Senate in proportion to their strength; but in the House, which was elected on the minority representation plan, they have secured precisely the number of members they should have on principles of right and justice. "The practical working of the two systems, viz., the " grab-all" and the proportional, was strikingly exemplified in this county, which is divided into seven senatorial districts. The Republicans carried 6 of them, and the Democrats only I; but for the other House the Democrats elected 8, and the Republicans 13 members, and that is exactly the number of members each party was entitled to in proportion to its strength at the polls in this county.

"For the first time for many years will the Democrats of this city be represented in the General Assembly by men of their choice and sentiments; and for the first time since the Republican party was organized in Illinois (in 1854) have the Democrats secured a representation from Northern or the Republicans from Southern Illinois, with rare exceptions. The strongest and bitterest Democratic districts down in Egypt' have now, for the first time in the history of existing parties, elected Republicans to the General Assembly.

"I send you a list of the members elect from all the districtsbeginning with Chicago and ending with Cairo. Mark the number of Republicans who have been chosen to the House from the Thirtythird to the Fifty-first District inclusive. These, with two or three exceptions, have heretofore constituted the Democratic strongholds of our State. Also note the number of Democrats who have been returned in the districts from the First to the Twenty-third. (This territory is called 'Canaan' in contradistinction to Egypt' at the opposite end of the State.) From this 'Canaan's fair and happy land' Democratic members have, therefore, been as scarce as white blackbirds.

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"Some of the politicians, before the election, predicted that cumulative voting would cause so much confusion and mischief that it would have to be abolished right away. The people, they said, would never comprehend it or know how to vote by that method; and the judges of the election, they predicted, would be unable to count up the votes and make correct returns. But none of their evil prognostications came to pass. The people seemed to understand their new power of cumulative voting, and exercised it freely. In some instances they elected two Republicans in a Democratic district, or two Democrats in a Republican district. This was done by 'plumping' for favourite candidates or transferring a part of a vote to a political opponent on account of his personal merits or popularity. But the general result did not change the proportional representation of parties.

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'Again the Chicago Times (28th November, 1872) adverting to the statement of Mr. Medill, observes that, clear as it is, it still 'fails to exhibit with due precision and force the most remarkable contrast between the new proportional system and the old 'grab-all' system The Times yesterday directed attention to the fact that in the new Illinois Congressional delegation only 250, 181 of the 434,252 citizens who sought to gain representation are actually represented, while no less than 184,071 of the number seeking representation are actually unrepresented or misrepresented. The like fact

appears no less conspicuously in the election of our State senators. In the seven senatorial districts in Cork county 50,355 votes sought to gain representation in the State senate. Of this number only 31,935 will be actually represented, leaving no less than 18,420 wholly unrepresented or misrepresented. The table of votes,

showing the represented and unrepresented voters in each of the seven senatorial districts is as follows