=The Function of a Representative.=—The function of a representative, as the term implies, is to represent. But how is he to be guided in the performance of this function? Is it the duty of a representative in Congress or in a state legislature to reflect the public opinion of his district whether he personally agrees with it or not? Should he obey the dictates of his own conscience and follow his own view of what the public welfare demands, or should he disregard these things and consider only the opinions of those voters who elected him? Let us suppose, for example, that a congressman personally believes in free trade. He is absolutely convinced, let us assume, that this is the only right policy. But he also knows, let us say, that the voters of his district are overwhelmingly in favor of high protective duties because they believe that wages will be higher if foreign goods are shut out. What is the duty of this congressman when called upon to vote for or against a protective tariff? Which should control—his own conviction or the opinions of those who elected him as their representative? [Sidenote: Edmund Burke’s views.] Many years ago the eminent Irish orator and statesman, Edmund Burke, gave his opinion on this matter in a speech to the voters of Bristol, whom he represented in the British House of Commons. A representative, according to Burke, ought to give due weight to the opinions of those who elected him, but he ought not to sacrifice his own best judgment to any man or to any group of men. It is the function of a representative to master all the details of public problems, which the people of his district cannot be expected to do, and to make his decision accordingly. “I maintained your interests against your opinions,” he said to the voters of Bristol in defending his actions. “A representative worthy of you ought to be a person of stability. I am to look, indeed, to your opinions, but to such opinions as you and I must have five years hence. I am not to look to the flash of the day.” Public officials in the United States do not usually talk that way. They dilate upon the wisdom of the people, and profess their own readiness to conform to whatever the people demand. They are prone to forget that a representative in Congress or in a state legislature does not represent his own district alone. He is in effect a representative of the whole people in nation or state. It is poor patriotism to sacrifice the best interests of the whole to the desires of any single community. At the same time when public opinion is strong and clear, we expect the representatives of the people to hearken to it. When it is vague or in doubt, the representative must depend upon his own judgment. If a representative cannot, because of his own conscientious belief, do what the people expect him to do, his duty is to resign. Representatives, however, do not often resign for this or any other reason. THE APPOINTMENT OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS.