It will be seen that there are three principles involved in these several methods, the election by cumulation of votes, the election by quotas, and the vote by proxies. The cumulative vote was the first to be put into actual service, being used in England for the election of members of school boards, etc., and in this country in the so-called three-cornered districts for the election of members of the legislature. It still has the support of quite a number of persons, but its limitations are now coming to be recognized. John Stuart Mill, who was an advocate of the cumulative vote, declared it to be merely a makeshift in comparison with the quota system of Hare. The objection to the cumulative vote lies in the fact that if the districts are small only two parties can obtain representation, and these in an arbitrary way, while if the districts be larger, that is, if the number of representatives in the district be made greater, the waste and uncertainty is apparent. A party may decide to vote for four candidates when it has votes enough to elect six; or it may try for six when it has votes for only four. In either case it is deprived of a part of its just share in the representation. The proxy system contains some theoretical merits, but it is feared that in practice it would not work well at present. The tendency to hero-worship would prompt so many voters to give their proxies to a few favorites that the real voting strength of the assembly would be in the hands of two or three men, thus destroying its value as a deliberative body. The real strength of proportional representation lies in some form of the quota principle, and the tendency in this country, as in Switzerland and Belgium, is toward the free list. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMPORTANT BOOKS, MOSTLY WITH A PURPOSE, Published and Sold by THE SCHULTE PUBLISHING COMPANY. [Illustration] =The Railroad Question.= By WILLIAM LARRABEE (late Governor of Iowa). 12mo, cloth extra, gilt top (488 pages), $1.50; paper, 50 cents. A historical and practical treatise on railroads and remedies for their abuses. The standard on this important subject. “No work has ever before told so completely and clearly what the public want to know.”—_Western Rural._ “While radical in its treatment of the question, no side has been overlooked.”—_Banker’s Magazine._ “A thorough treatise by an able mind. The authorities quoted are the best in print.”—_Coming Nation._ =The Little Statesman.= By K. L. ARMSTRONG (F. J. Schulte). Large 12mo, paper, 25 cents.