PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
"Celui-ci tuera celui-là. Voilà la formula du scrutin d'arrondissement.
"Ceux-ci tueront ceux-là. Voilà la formule du serutin de liste sans la
representation proportionnelle.
"Ceux-ci et ceux-là auront leur juste part. Voila la formule du scrutin
de liste avec la representation proportionnelle."--J. JAURES
It cannot be a matter for surprise that the methods of election adopted
in the early stages of representative institutions fail to respond to
the needs of the more complex political conditions of highly civilized
communities. The movement in favour of improved electoral methods is in
keeping with the advances made in all other human institutions. We no
longer travel by stage-coach nor read by rush-light. We cross the
Atlantic with a certainty and an ease unknown and undreamt of a little
while ago. Means of intercommunication, the press, the mail, the
telegraph, the telephone have developed marvellously in response to
modern requirements. This continuous adaptation is the law of existence
and, in view of modern political conditions we cannot permanently refuse
to adapt our electoral methods to the more perfect organization of a
progressive democracy. By cumulative pressure the evils set forth in the
preceding chapters can have but one result; they will compel English
statesmen, as they have compelled or are compelling Continental
statesmen, to devise an effective remedy; and although individual
politicians may resist and retard the advent of reformed methods, the
demand for better representative institutions will in the end overcome
all such resistance.
_The essential features of a sound electoral method_.]
What then are the requirements of a satisfactory electoral method? The
evils to be remedied must yield the clue. Our present system--exclusive
majority representation--has often, as we have seen, resulted in a gross
exaggeration of the majority, sometimes in the total suppression of the
minority; and, on other occasions, in the return of a majority of
representatives by a minority of the electors. These evils have happened
when only two parties have been seeking representation; when a third
party enters the political arena the system completely breaks down, and
all efforts to restore "majority" representation by a system of second
ballots have proved an absolute failure. The attempts made in the past
to secure the special representation of minorities, though most
successful in many respects, have been of an empirical character, and
have dealt with the problem in a very partial way. Yet it is not
difficult to find a solution for all these problems which is at the same
time satisfactory and effective. It is only necessary to return to the
first principles of democracy, to keep steadily in view the meaning of
that self-government which we desire to achieve through representative
institutions. Self-government can only be realized when every section of
the community through its own representatives can give expression to its
needs in the assembly which is representative of the nation and which
derives all its authority from the fact that it is so representative.
This assembly acts in the name of the nation; its decisions are said to
embody the national will. But if any considerable section of the nation
is deprived, from whatever cause, of representation in the House of
Commons, in what sense can it be said that its decisions give expression
to the national will? The new electoral conditions force us, willingly
or unwillingly, to the conclusion that no satisfactory solution can be
reached until effect is given to Mill's fundamental principle of
democracy--that the various sections of political opinion should be
represented in the legislative chamber in proportion to their strength.
Only in the fulfilment of that condition can we escape from the evils
of the existing system and at the same time do justice to the claims of
three organized parties to representation within the House of Commons.
_Constituencies returning several members._
It is now no longer possible to accept Mill's declaration as
theoretically perfect and then to dismiss it as wholly impracticable. If
the political conditions are such that the proportionate representation
of parties is the only satisfactory solution of our electoral
difficulties, it becomes the duty of statesmen to find some way by which
practical effect can be given to Mill's formula. There was doubtless
some excuse for the cry of impracticability when, in launching in 1857
his proposals for proportional representation, Thomas Hare suggested
that the whole kingdom should form a single constituency. This
suggestion raised a barrier of prejudice against all proposals for
proportional representation, which only to-day is being broken down, and
led to a refusal to consider seriously any attempt to secure an
amelioration of existing methods along more modest lines. Nevertheless,
it must be admitted that the first step in the direction of realizing
true representation must be the enlargement of our present electoral
areas. So long as single-member constituencies are retained elections
must necessarily take the form of a struggle for the whole of the
representation allotted to the constituency. There is but one prize--a
prize which is indivisible--and the proportional distribution of that
prize is impossible. For a system of proportional representation the
first requirement is the formation of constituencies returning several
members. These electoral areas need not be formed in an arbitrary
manner. Familiar divisions of the country, such as large towns, counties
or parts of counties, may be treated as single constituencies. Glasgow,
Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds would form constituencies in
themselves. Counties which are large enough to return at least five
members might also be treated as electoral areas, whilst the smallest
counties would be grouped and the larger counties, if necessary,
subdivided.
_The proportional representation of the electors._
With such constituencies it would be possible to approximate to a true
representation of the electors. Birmingham, which may be taken for
purposes of illustration, returns seven members to the House of Commons,
one for each of its seven divisions. The Unionists being in a majority
in each of these seven divisions, are enabled to secure the whole of the
representation allotted to the city, although there is a large minority
of non-Unionists. If Birmingham were treated as a single constituency,
and if the electors were divided as follows: Unionists, 40,000;
Liberals, 20,000; Labour, 10,000, then it is obvious that any just
system of representation would enable the Unionists, Liberal and Labour
electors to obtain four, two, and one members respectively. Birmingham
would then be represented accurately and fairly within the House of
Commons; and if each large area was so represented we should, in this
way, be able to build up a House of Commons which would reflect in true
proportions the political opinions of the country. The undoubted
fairness of such a system of representation will appeal with even more
force if consideration is given to the grounds on which seven
representatives are now allotted to a town of the size of Birmingham.
Did Birmingham contain only 40,000 electors, all of whom were Unionists,
it would only be entitled to four representatives in Parliament. The
presence of a large number of electors who are not Unionists brings,
however, the total electorate to 70,000, and Birmingham is granted
representation on the basis of this total. Thus the additional
representation, granted because of the presence of a large minority of
non-Unionist electors, takes the form of additional Unionist members.
The minority under the present system is not only disfranchised but
penalised; the representation which is due to them is given to their
opponents.
But it is not difficult to devise a scheme of proportional
representation which should ensure that the electors of Birmingham and
other large towns, and also of the various counties, should be truly
represented within the House of Commons. Of this fact the recent
history of electoral legislation on the Continent and in the Colonies
furnishes incontrovertible proofs. Proportional representation has been
embodied in the laws of several countries, and these laws work with
perfect smoothness.
_Experience in Denmark._
The first application of the principle took place in Denmark so long ago
as 1855, two years before the publication of Mr. Hare's scheme, when M.
Andrae, a Danish Minister of great eminence and ability, introduced it
into the new Constitution promulgated in that year. The system of
proportional representation was retained through the constitutional
changes of 1863 and 1866, though, it should be added, the extent of its
application was limited to the election of members of the Upper House.
The citizens of each constituency, voting in two classes, choose by the
ordinary method of voting an equal number of representatives. These
representatives constitute an electoral college, the members of which
proceed to the election of representatives of the constituency according
to the method of proportional representation. This limited application
of proportional representation still remains in force, and in recent
years the principle has received further and increasing recognition.
Parliamentary committees and committees of the municipalities of
Copenhagen are chosen by a proportional method. The principle was
applied in 1903 to the elections of the Congregational councils, but its
most notable extension was effected in 1908, when the system was applied
to all municipal elections, the first elections taking place in
March 1909.
_Switzerland_
It will be seen that even in Denmark there was a considerable lapse of
time between the limited application adopted in 1855 and its extension
to elections of a more popular kind in recent years; and outside
Denmark, although societies advocating the new principles were founded
in England, France, Belgium, and Switzerland, proportional
representation did not succeed in finding its way very readily to the
statute book. It was not until 1890 that the first step was taken which
has resulted in so rapid an extension of the system. The evils arising
from the majority method of election had become so acute in the Swiss
canton of Ticino[1] that proportional representation was adopted as a
means of pacification. The elections in March 1889 resulted in the
return of seventy-seven Conservative deputies by 12,783 votes, whilst
the Liberals, with 12,166 votes, were only able to obtain thirty-five
representatives. The Liberals alleged that this unfair result was due to
a gerrymandering of the constituencies, and demanded a revision of the
Constitution. The Conservative Government declining to take the
necessary steps for this purpose, a revolution broke out in Bellinzona,
in the course of which one of the members of the Government was killed
and his colleagues arrested and imprisoned. The Federal Council
intervened and sent its representative, Colonel Künzli, who recommended
the adoption of proportional representation. After some hesitancy the
party leaders agreed, and the Cantonal Council passed a law (5 December
1890), providing for the election by a system of proportional
representation of a Constituent Assembly for the purpose of revising the
Constitution. The suspicions of the Liberals were not, however, fully
allayed and, thinking that they were again being duped, they decided on
the eve of the election of the Assembly to abstain. This decision was
adhered to, and as a result the first assembly in Ticino elected under
the proportional system consisted of Conservatives only. The
Conservatives remained faithful to the agreement entered into with the
Liberals and voted the law of 9 February 1891, introducing proportional
representation into the cantonal constitution and applying it to the
elections for the Cantonal Council, Constituent Assemblies and
municipalities. The law was approved by popular vote in the following
March, and the system has since retained its place in the constitution
of the canton[2]. The immediate object in view--the pacification of the
canton--was completely attained and its success has led to its adoption
in other cantons. It is now in force in Neuchâtel, Geneva, Solothurn,
Zug, Schwyz, Bâle City, Lucerne and St. Gall, and also (for municipal
elections) in Berne, Fribourg, and Valais, whilst there is an active and
growing demand for its application to the Federal elections. The
progress of public opinion in this respect has been tested by means of
the Referendum in 1900 and 1910. On the first occasion 169,000 voters
supported the extension to Federal elections, and 247,000 opposed it. In
1910 the number of voters in favour of the proposal had increased by
70,000, while the opposition had increased by only 15,000, and the
adoption of proportional representation for Federal elections was
defeated by the narrow margin of 23,000 votes in a total poll of half a
million. At the same time twelve out of the twenty-two cantons approved
of the extension, and it is generally agreed that the ultimate triumph
of the proportional principle cannot long be delayed.
The need for proportional representation was particularly felt in the
canton of Geneva, where religious differences often form the dividing
line between parties. The canton is divided into three constituencies;
one for the town of Geneva, one for that part of the canton on the right
bank, and one for that on the left bank of the Lake and of the Rhone.
With the _scrutin de liste_ (the former method of election) the minority
in each constituency was completely crushed. The Protestants of the
right bank were deprived of all representation; the Catholics of the
town obtained a few deputies as an act of grace on the part of the
majority. In 1872, when the affairs of the Catholic church were being
discussed, the Radicals and Independents succeeded in excluding from the
Council all who were most directly affected by the question of the day.
The proportional system was introduced in 1892, and as the election of
members of the Federal Council was still conducted according to the old
system the working of the two methods could be readily compared. "The
elections for the cantonal councils in November 1892," wrote M. Naville,
"were keenly fought, but calm; no recriminations followed, and political
life pursued a normal course.... On the other hand, the Federal
elections in October 1893 were riotous, blows being exchanged. Exclusive
majority representation artificially creates disturbances....
Proportional representation introduces a pacifying element into all
political struggles."
_Belgium._
The introduction of a complete scheme of proportional representation
into Belgium was also rendered necessary by the intolerable position
arising from the former methods of election. The rapid growth of the
Socialist Party with a distinct organization created a situation which,
as already explained, was in no way relieved by the system of second
ballots in force. Indeed, the coalitions at the second ballots not only
discredited the system but greatly embittered the relations between the
various parties. "In 1899," says Count Goblet d'Alviella, "Belgium was
on the eve of a revolution--a revolution which was only avoided by the
immediate and complete introduction of proportional representation into
parliamentary elections." This, however, was not the first trial of
proportional representation in Belgium, for Belgium, like Switzerland,
affords an example of the gradual but certain extension of the new
method of election. In 1894 proportional representation had been applied
partially and tentatively to the larger municipal councils, and although
this application was of a partial character it achieved a considerable
measure of success. M. Braun, the Burgomaster of Ghent, speaking in May
1899, described its results in the following terms:--
"During the four years that proportional representation has been applied
to the communal elections of Ghent, every one has been able to
appreciate the happy effects of the reform. Everybody recognizes that,
far from being endangered, the material prosperity of the city has
increased, and that the ameliorating and pacifying effects of the
altered electoral method have even exceeded the expectations and hopes
of its advocates." [3]
The system of proportional representation adopted for the parliamentary
elections was much more complete, and so great has been its success that
there has arisen a strong demand for its introduction into the elections
for the provincial councils in which the old majority system, with
second ballots, is still used. The parliamentary elections in May 1908
were followed by the provincial elections in the ensuing month, and thus
a favourable opportunity was presented of contrasting the working of the
two systems. The grossly unfair results of the provincial elections drew
forth from many journals most caustic criticism. _Le Peuple_ expressed
the hope that these provincial elections would be the last instance of
the use of the majority system in Belgium. "Is it not," it proceeded,
"absurd, stupid, detestable that the provincial councils are alone
excluded from the system of proportional representation? Once for all we
must have done with this jumble of confusion, dishonesty, and
corruption." The _Etoile Belge_ declared that "One thing is certain, the
provincial electoral system can no longer be maintained without exposing
us to the laughter of Europe. To apply one system of proportional
representation to the parliamentary elections, another to municipal
elections, and to maintain the majority system for the provincial
elections, is really too absurd. For once we agree with _Le Peuple_ and
join our hopes and wishes to theirs." That these comments were fully
justified a few examples will show. In the province of Limbourg the
forty-eight seats on the provincial council were all obtained by the
Catholics, whereas in the parliamentary elections of the previous month
the Liberals, owing to the proportional system, were able to obtain two
seats out of six. In the "Agglomération Bruxelloise" no Catholic and
only five Socialists were elected, although the Liberals numbered but a
few more than a third of the voters. The provincial elections of former
years afford further illustration. In 1898 at Ghent the Liberals of the
first canton defeated the Socialists at the second ballots with the help
of the Catholics, in the second canton they defeated the Catholics with
the help of the Socialists, while in the third canton they were
themselves defeated by the Catholics, who were assisted by the
Socialists. In the same year at Brussels, where a second ballot took
place in each of the five cantons, the Liberal minority captured every
one of the forty-four seats. Sir Arthur Hardinge pointed out in his
Report on the working of the Second Ballots in Belgium, that it was the
failure of this electoral method that rendered a proportional system in
parliamentary elections an absolute necessity; its failure in the
provincial elections will result in its abolition from these also. No
more convincing evidence of the satisfactory working of the proportional
system can be given than this demand for its extension, the latest
example of which in Belgium is its application by a new law passed in
1909 to the election of the _Conseils de Prud'hommes._
_German States._
Whilst the adoption of proportional representation in Switzerland and in
Belgium was due to the pressure of particular circumstances, the marked
success of the new method has not only resulted in its extension in
those countries, it has also had a pronounced influence upon public
opinion in neighbouring countries. The kingdoms of Southern Germany are
following the example of the Swiss cantons. Würtemberg, in the new
constitution adopted in 1906, decided that the seats set free by the
removal of the "privileged" members of the Lower House should be filled
by proportional representation. Legislative proposals have since been
discussed in Saxony, and in May 1910 a vigorous debate took place in the
Bavarian Parliament, in the course of which Dr. Müller declared that the
advocates of the reform would not rest "until this unjust electoral
system, this bulwark of short-sighted injustice and ill-omened party
spirit, is set aside in the higher interests of justice and of civil and
religious freedom." The principle has received a recognition even more
general in character, for a ministerial decree issued in June 1901,
relative to the associated committees of employers and workmen, enabled
these bodies, if they so chose, to elect their members in accordance
with the principle of proportional representation. Some sixteen towns,
including Frankfort-On-Main, Munich, Carlsruhe, Fribourg, Mannheim, &c.,
availed themselves of the privilege, and the results have been most
satisfactory. Much greater interest has been taken in the elections. In
Carlsruhe, for instance, the number of voters increased from 1103 in
1897 to 3546 in 1903.
_France_
Similarly, the great success of the Belgian legislation gave birth to a
fresh and more powerful movement in France. Founded in 1901, under the
presidency of M. Yves Guyot, the _Ligue pour la Représentation
Proportionnelle_ enlisted the support of deputies drawn from all
political parties. The Electoral Reform group within the Chamber of
Deputies during the Parliament 1906-10 consisted of over two hundred
members, and, under the auspices of this group large and enthusiastic
meetings were held in the great towns. The reform has the support of
many leading newspapers, and the authoritative reports of the French
Parliamentary Committee, _la Commission du Suffrage Universel_, contain
strong recommendations in favour of the adoption of proportional
representation. The first of these reports prepared in 1905 by M. Chas.
Benoist[4] contains an admirable statement of the case for the reform,
a plea which is powerfully reinforced in the report prepared two years
later by M. Etienne Flandin.[5] The Bill recommended in this latter
report was discussed in the French Chamber of Deputies in October 1909.
The first clause of the Bill read as follows: "The members of the
Chamber of Deputies shall be elected by the _scrutin de liste_ according
to the rules for proportional representation." The first portion of this
clause--the members of the Chamber of Deputies shall be elected by
_scrutin de liste_--was carried by 379 votes against 142, or a majority
of 237. The second portion--according to the rules for proportional
representation--was carried by 281 votes to 235, or a majority of 46.
The Prime Minister, M. Briand, urged by many of his Radical supporters,
who were unwilling to forego the advantages which they obtained from the
existing system, then made the question one of confidence in the
Government, and the whole clause, when put to the final vote, was
defeated by 291 votes to 225. A noteworthy feature of these divisions
was the size of the majority by which the system of single-member
constituencies was condemned. At the General Election in April 1910 no
fewer than 315 Deputies were returned pledged to the reform. M. Briand
at once introduced a Bill which, however, did not fully meet the demands
of the reformers, and the _Commission du Suffrage Universel_ made
important modifications in it with a view to securing more completely
the proportional representation of all political parties within the
country. On the fall of M. Briand in February 1911, the government of M.
Monis announced its intention of supporting the amended scheme. The
success of the movement, commenced in 1901 is now, after a decade of
active effort, no longer open to doubt.
_Holland_
Holland, too, has felt the influence of the legislation of its
neighbour. A constitutional commission, appointed by the Dutch
Government, reported in favour of amending the fundamental law so as to
render possible the adoption of proportional representation. The
recommendations of this Commission were embodied by the Government in
Bills presented to the States General in 1907, and although the
proposals were subsequently withdrawn, the reform has the support of
many of the leading statesmen, and a favourable report is anticipated
from the new Commission to which the question of reform has
been referred.
_Finland._
In the North of Europe an equally successful and, in some respects, an
independent movement in favour of true representation has taken place.
In an excellent little pamphlet, published at Helsingfors,[6] it is
stated that during those calamitous years between the _coup d'état_ of
1899 and the restoration of the constitution in 1906, there arose in
Finland the conviction that only a democratic reform of its political
institutions would afford a sufficient guarantee for the maintenance of
its internal independence. The fruits of that conviction were seen in
the draft of the new constitution for the Diet prepared by a committee
appointed by the Finnish Government. Provision was made for the adoption
both of universal suffrage and proportional representation. The report
adds that the four Estates of the Diet, satisfied that proportional
representation would ensure the just representation of all parties,
willingly accepted the proposals for universal suffrage, and also agreed
that henceforth the Diet should consist of but one chamber. Finland thus
found herself, when the new constitution was granted, in the possession
of an electoral system as democratic as any in the world.[7]
_Sweden._
In Sweden a long and arduous struggle took place over the reform of the
franchise. The Liberals and Socialists demanded that less weight should
be given to the possession of property. The Conservatives resisted the
demand. The adoption of proportional representation as a possible way
out was proposed in 1902, and from that date the fight assumed another
aspect. "The method of voting," wrote Major von Heidenstam, part author
of the proposals embodied in the new law, "took from the beginning a
very prominent place, strange to say the most prominent down to the last
few months before the chief battle. We who went in for proportional
representation had a very hard struggle for the first five years, but we
won at last." The victory was complete; proportional representation was
accepted for both Chambers of the Riksdag, for the committees selected
by these Chambers, for County Councils and for Town Councils. When the
final adoption of the reform Bills was voted in 1909 they were carried
by very large majorities; in the first Chamber only 19 out of 141, and
in the second Chamber only 53 out of 225, recorded an adverse vote.[8]
_Australasia._
In this remarkable outburst in favour of proportional representation
English-speaking countries are taking their part. Inspired by the late
Catherine Helen Spence, an untiring advocate of the reform, the
Effective Voting League has carried on an active campaign in
Australasia. Legislative proposals for proportional representation have
been discussed in recent years by the Commonwealth Parliament, and also
by the Parliaments of Victoria, South Australia and West Australia.
Although these measures have not become law, the work of Miss Spence and
her colleagues has gained considerable support. Mr. Deakin has openly
acknowledged his approval, whilst the results of recent elections, and
more particularly that of the election in 1910 for the Commonwealth
Senate, have increased the demand for reform. Proportional
representation, too, is meeting with increasing sympathy in New Zealand
where the system of second ballots, adopted in 1908, has failed to give
satisfaction. In Tasmania the movement has made much greater headway. An
Act was passed in 1896 applying proportional representation to the urban
districts of Hobart and Launceston, but although this Act was an
acknowledged success so far as the representation of these two towns
were concerned, the differentiation between the voting methods applied
to the town and country districts gave rise to dissatisfaction, and the
measure was withdrawn in 1901. But when once the benefits of
proportional representation had been felt its re-introduction in a more
complete form was not long delayed. In 1907 a new Act was passed
applying equally to town or country. The State is now divided into five
electoral districts, and the six members allotted to each district are
elected by the proportional method. The first elections under the new
law took place in April 1909, and the result has met with
general approval.
_South Africa._
In South Africa proportional representation has, with astonishing
rapidity, gained the adherence of its foremost public men, and although
the delegates to the South African National Convention abandoned the
proposal for the use of the proportional method in the elections to the
legislative Assembly of United South Africa, yet the adoption of this
principle for the election of members of the Senate and of the
committees of the Provincial Councils, as finally agreed to, marks an
advance which a few years ago would have been thought impossible. Nor is
this the only forward step taken in South Africa. The Transvaal
Municipal Commission recommended the adoption of proportional
representation in municipal elections, and the Government embodied this
recommendation in an Act passed in June 1909. The first elections under
this Act took place with complete success on 27 October 1909, in
Johannesburg and Pretoria, each of these towns being polled as a single
constituency.
_Canada._
In Canada, although the movement has not taken so active a form as
elsewhere, the Government consented in March 1909, on the motion of Mr.
F.D. Monk, K.C., to the appointment of a committee of the House of
Commons for the purpose of investigating methods of proportional
representation. Further, the Trades and Labour Congress, the chief
organization of this kind in Canada, the Toronto District Labour
Council, and the Winnipeg District Trades Council, employ the
proportional method in the election of their committees.
_Oregon._
In the fight for the more popular control of politics in the United
States proportional representation will apparently play no mean part.
The object of the People's Power League of Oregon is to free the
representative assemblies of the State from the domination of political
bosses, and an amendment to the constitution, providing for the adoption
of proportional representation was, on the initiative of this League,
submitted to the electorate in 1908 and carried with a large majority.
The Oregon Legislature, which met in January 1909, was bitterly opposed
to the change, and refused to pass the Representation Bill which was
required to give effect to the decision of the electorate. A new
proportional representation amendment, which was self-enactive, was
submitted to the popular vote in November 1910, in conjunction with
other proposed constitutional changes, but failed to meet with approval
owing to the unpopularity of the measures with which it was combined,
the most striking of which was a six-year term for the legislature.
There may be a long struggle for supremacy between the "machine" and the
reformers, but in that revival of interest which is being taken
throughout the United States in the conduct and working of
representative institutions it can be confidently predicted that the
reform of the existing methods of election will take a prominent place.
_The United Kingdom._
In the United Kingdom the Proportional Representation Society, founded
in 1884, was revived in 1905, and since its revival has secured the
adherence of a considerable number of members of Parliament. The Royal
Commission on Electoral Systems, appointed in December 1908, was the
outcome of its activity and, although this Commission did not recommend
the immediate application of proportional representation to the House
of Commons, its Report marks a very considerable advance in the history
of the movement in this country.[9] The Commission reported that there
would be much to be said in favour of proportional representation as a
method for the constitution of an elective Second Chamber, and intimated
its approval of this method of election for municipalities. The views
taken by the Commission in respect of an elective Second Chamber and
municipalities have found expression elsewhere. The Select Committee on
the Reform of the House of Lords, presided over by Lord Rosebery,
recommended that the election of Lords of Parliament to represent the
hereditary Peerage should be by the cumulative vote or any other scheme
of proportionate election,[10] and since this Report was issued all
proposals for the introduction of an elected element into the House of
Lords have recognized the need for an adequate representation of
minorities.[11] The Municipal Representation Bill, introduced by Lord
Courtney of Penwith, was passed by the House of Lords in 1908 after
careful examination by a select Committee of that House, whilst a
motion, moved by Mr. Aneurin Williams, on 30 March 1910, in the House of
Commons, in favour of applying the system to municipal elections was
carried without opposition.
_The success of proportional representation in practice._
The movement in favour of more accurate methods of election is becoming
world-wide in its scope, and the brief summary[12] already given of the
progress made in recent years furnishes in itself abundant proof of the
practicability of proportional representation. In every country in which
the new methods have been introduced fears were expressed that it would
be impossible for the average elector to fulfil the new duties required
of him, and that returning officers would collapse under the weight of
their new responsibilities. The same apprehension still exists in
England, and it may therefore be desirable to refer in greater detail to
the experience of those countries in which the new methods have been put
to the test of popular elections. Nowhere do we find that the new
systems of voting have presented any serious difficulty to the electors,
and although the task imposed upon the returning officers has been in
some cases unnecessarily severe, yet they have not only carried out
their new duties with credit, but have made the introduction of the new
system a brilliant success. After the first elections in Geneva, in
November 1892, the journal _Le Génevois_, which had fought desperately
against the introduction of the reform, stated that the counting of the
votes had been quickly and correctly carried out. "We readily
acknowledge," it added, "that in this matter we were greatly deceived."
"From the point of view of practicability," wrote the _Journal de
Genève_, "the new system has been a brilliant success." _La Suisse_
declared that the outstanding triumph of the day was proportional
voting. The first elections in the canton of Bale-town were equally
successful. "The elections," said the late Professor Hagenbach-Bischoff,
"took place on 26 June 1905; the polling places were open till 2 P.M.,
the counting was finished at 7 P.M., so that the newspapers were able to
publish the results the same evening. Everything went off well, and the
journals have acknowledged the great success of proportional
representation."
Six General Elections have taken place in Belgium since the law of 1899,
and now no one in the country speaks of the impracticability of
proportional representation. Count Goblet d'Alviella states that "all
the objections that were brought against the system before its
introduction have been set at naught. The proportional method instead of
complicating, as was foretold, both the voting and the counting, has
worked with greater ease than the old one. The electors understood at
once what they were to do, and the counters made fewer mistakes than
before." Wurtemberg furnishes another instance of the ease with which
the new system can be introduced. _Der Beobachter_, a leading journal of
Stuttgart, stated that: "The new electoral system, which only a short
time ago was unknown to the electors, worked without a hitch in the
whole country, just as it worked a few weeks ago in Stuttgart. The first
feeling is one of surprise. The number of votes was enormous; the
candidates were numerous, the ballot papers from the different districts
were in various forms, and yet the whole machine, from the district
officials to the employees of the Government office, who collected the
results, worked with promptitude and ease. The next feeling is one of
pleasure at the complete success of this first experiment in
proportional representation on a large scale in the German Empire."
The success of the first elections in Finland, in which more than half
the voters exercised the franchise for the first time, was equally
complete. According to the account of a Finnish journalist[13]: "The
first election under the new system took place on 15 and 16 March 1907.
The total electorate amounts to some 1,300,000 people, or 47 per cent,
of the whole population. Of these about 887,000, or nearly 64 per cent.,
polled. In the more thickly-populated electoral divisions the percentage
was much higher: thus, in the Nyland division, which comprises
Helsingfors, it was 74.2 per cent.; in several polling districts as many
as 95 and even 98 per cent, came to the polling station. The often-used
argument against proportional representation, that the system is too
involved to be understood by the average voter, was in Finland
completely refuted. The number of spoilt ballot papers in the whole
country probably is less than 1 per cent.; in the Nyland division, the
largest of all, returning twenty-three members, the ballot paper
contained ninety-five candidates, and yet only 0.59 per cent, were
spoilt." Small as this number is, the official returns for the
succeeding elections show a still smaller percentage. In November 1910
the number of spoilt papers throughout the country amounted to .25 per
cent, of the whole. The first elections in Sweden were equally
successful. There was only one spoilt paper in the elections witnessed
by the author at Carlskrona in May 1910.
Nor have English-speaking peoples shown themselves less able to adapt
themselves to new voting methods. An official report presented by the
chief returning officer of Tasmania to the Senate of the Australian
Commonwealth[14] contains convincing evidence as to the practicability
of the single transferable vote for the purpose of parliamentary
elections. The report deals with the election of members of the
Commonwealth Senate and House of Representatives in 1901 by means of the
single transferable vote. For this purpose the State of Tasmania was
treated as a single constituency. The percentage of spoilt papers due to
the new system of voting was 1.44 in the Senate elections and 1.80 in
the election of the House of Representatives, but the returning officer
adds that "this would have been much less had it not been that the old
defective system previously in force in Tasmania required the actual
scoring out of every rejected candidate instead of, as in most
countries, the marking of a cross or sign only against those candidates
who were selected. Had this better form of marking been in practice in
Tasmania previous to the introduction of the Hare system of voting, it
is probable that there would be very few invalid papers due to the Hare
system of marking with preference numbers." Professor Jethro Brown, in
describing these first elections, states that "the work of the
returning officer, whilst less simple than that of the elector, demands
no exceptional qualifications; he need display the industry of an
average clerk--scarcely more."[15] The more recent elections in
Tasmania, those of 1909, were carried out with equal ease. The
percentage of spoilt ballot papers due to all causes was 2.86, and this
percentage compared favourably with the number of spoilt papers in the
election of 1906, in which the majority system of voting was used.[16]
The Transvaal municipal elections also afford excellent evidence of the
ease with which the new system of voting can be introduced. Most of the
electors made their first acquaintance with the system during the
electoral campaign. In Pretoria the number of spoilt papers due to all
causes amounted to 38 out of a total of 2852, or 1.33 per cent., while
the number of spoilt papers which could be attributed to the new system
was only 27, or less than 1 per cent. The percentage of spoilt papers at
Johannesburg was larger, but it must be remembered that the electorate
in this town is perhaps as cosmopolitan as any in the world. At some of
the public meetings addresses were given in English, Dutch, and Yiddish,
and the task of instructing the electors in their new duties was
considerably more difficult than in a more homogeneous constituency.
Nevertheless the number of spoilt papers due to all causes was only 367
out of a total number of 12,155, or 3 per cent., whilst the number of
spoilt papers attributable to the new system was 285, or 2.35 per cent.
Moreover, the returning officer was very strict in his decisions as to
the validity of papers, so that the number of spoilt papers attributable
to the new system included all those in which voters had in any way
departed from the letter of the instructions. The press bore striking
testimony to the success of the elections. The _Transvaal Leader_
declared that "the consensus of competent opinion is that the system is
a perfect success, considered as electoral machinery.... The municipal
elections have demonstrated that every section can secure that amount of
representation which it can justly claim." The _Rand Daily Mail_
expressed the view that "...Both here, and in Pretoria, it may claim to
have proved a success. The ten councillors elected under it here may
fairly claim to be representative of every shade of public opinion....
We should like to see it extended to all municipalities, and ultimately
to parliamentary elections." The _Johannesburg Star_ stated that "The
authors may fairly congratulate themselves that they have proved it
practicable in working and fair in results. The business of counting the
votes and allotting the preferences was sure to be a slow one at the
first time of asking, but there was no hesitation and no confusion. The
proceedings in the Wanderer's Hall went forward with the steady
certainty of clockwork.... The whole trial was a high one in a town like
this with a considerable element of illiterate voters; but taking it all
through we have no hesitation in saying that the working of the new
system was a conspicuous and unqualified success."
_An election by miners_.]
After such a mass of testimony as to the satisfactory working of
proportional methods in parliamentary elections, it is perhaps hardly
necessary to refer to the success of those model elections carried out
from time to time by the Proportional Representation Society in
England.[17] Yet it may be as well to recall the novel and entirely
successful experiment, organized in 1885, by Mr. Albert Grey, M.P. (now
Earl Grey, Governor-General of Canada). "Mr. Grey," according to the
account in _The Times_[18], "was returning officer, and was assisted in
the count by thirty miners--a body of utterly untrained men whose hands,
accustomed by daily usage to the contact of pickaxe and shovel, were new
and strange to the somewhat delicate task of fingering and separating
flimsy ballot papers. They had received no instructions before they were
assembled in the room as to the duties they would be required to
transact, and the expedition, good-humour, and correctness with which
they got through the several stages of the count justly earned for them
the admiration of those who had come from a distance, as well as the
compliment which Mr. Grey deservedly paid them at the conclusion of the
day's proceedings." On this occasion some 6645 papers were counted, the
number of spoilt votes being 44, considerably less than 1 per cent. The
election is of interest as the members of Northumberland Miners'
Association have ever since that date used the transferable vote in the
election of their agents.
To demonstrate the practicability of proportional representation does
not, however, dispose of all of the objections which have been urged
against the system, but before dealing with these objections it will
perhaps be useful to outline those schemes which have emerged so
successfully from the test of popular elections. These methods, although
they vary in detail, range themselves under two heads--the single
transferable vote and the system of lists. The first of these
systems--the single transferable vote--bases representation upon
electors who may, if they so desire, group themselves into parties,
whereas the list systems base representation upon parties as such. And
as the single transferable vote, in basing representation upon electors
follows English traditions, we will begin with the consideration of
this system.
[Footnote 1: The story of the introduction of proportional
representation into the Canton of Ticino is told in full by Professor
Galland in _La Démocratie Tessinoise et la Représentation
Proportionnelle_ (Grenoble, 1909).]
[Footnote 2: The application was extended in 1892, 1895, and 1898 to the
election of the Executive Council, of jurors and of Communal Councils.
In 1904, however, when the Liberals were in a majority, a change was
made in the election of the Executive Council. The proportional system,
which had given them only three seats out of five, was replaced (for the
election of Executive Councils) by the limited vote. Under the new
system, which is less favourable to the minority, the Liberals obtained
four out of five seats.]
[Footnote 3: Goblet d'Alviella, _La Représentation Proportionnelle en
Belgique_, p. 92.]
[Footnote 4: No. 2376, _Chambre des Députés, Huitième Législature_,
1905.]
[Footnote 5: No. 883, _Chambre des Deputes, Neuvième Legislature_, 1907.
(See App. X.)]
[Footnote 6: _The Finnish Reform Bill of_ 1906. The new method of voting
is described in Appendix IV.]
[Footnote 7: The Russian Duma has since passed a law (1910) by which the
powers the Finnish Diet have been considerably curtailed.]
[Footnote 8: The Swedish system is described in Appendix III.]
[Footnote 9: Report of Royal Commission on Electoral Systems, 1910 (Cd.
5163).]
[Footnote 10: House of Lords Report, 1908 (234), par. 18.]
[Footnote 11: In the article, "Two Chambers or One," in _The Quarterly
Review,_ July 1910, the writer recommends that elected members, if
introduced into the House of Lords, should be chosen in large
constituencies by a system of proportional representation. Professor
Ramsay Muir in _Peers and Bureaucrats_ advocates the formation of a new
Upper House, wholly elected under a proportional system.]
[Footnote 12: This summary is necessarily incomplete; the list of
countries is continually lengthening. Uruguay has adopted a form of
minority representation (1910); Lisbon and Oporto, under the electoral
scheme of the new Portuguese government, will choose representatives by
a proportional system (1911); a new movement, under the leadership of
Prince Teano, has arisen in Italy.]
[Footnote 13: _The Daily Chronicle_ 1 June 1907.]
[Footnote 14: Reprinted in Report on Municipal Representation Bill,
House of Lords, 1907 (132), p. 125.]
[Footnote 15: _The New Democracy_, p. 47.]
[Footnote 16: The percentage in the Federal Senate election of 1906 was
4.48; in the election of the House of Representatives, 3.94. A full
report on the General Election of 30 April 1909 has been published by
the Tasmanian Government--Tasmania, 1909, No. 34.]
[Footnote 17: See Chapter VII.]
[Footnote 18: _The Times_, 26 January 1885.]