=Proportional Representation.=--The adoption of some form of
preferential voting can alone give the voters a chance for
proportional representation of their ideals and aims in legislative
bodies. We are seeing that the limits of useful partisanship in
politics are narrower than was once thought. No sane and sensible
person really believes that all of goodness and of wisdom is contained
in his party and that its success is a valid reason for "turning out
the rascals" of the other party. No sane and sensible person believes
that there is such a thing as "Democratic" economy, or "Republican"
justice, or "Socialistic" efficiency, or "Labor Party" good
government. There are only economy, efficiency, justice, and good
government. Each party may have a different ideal of the best method
of attaining these political necessities, and, therefore, since truth
is not gained by dogmatic assumptions of any one set of persons but by
approach to problems of mind and character from different angles of
experience and of study, each party should have its representatives in
the legislative bodies of nation, state, and community. And every new
idea of political reform and social progress that by dint of hard work
among the intellectual and moral elite has gained a substantial
following in public opinion of even a relatively small minority, has,
in justice, and in demand for constant advance in human affairs, a
right to a place in the high debate of political leadership. It is,
therefore, for those who believe in the worth and use of freedom and
of mutual tolerance and respect, in political discussion and action,
to work for some method of selection of political representatives of
the people which will make our legislative bodies more truly official
sections of the thought and moral ideal of the whole life of the body
politic. This is, perhaps, the greatest of the political calls for
increased wisdom and practical sense in our country.
The third problem which presses for attention, study and possible
solution upon the voters of the United States, and one in which the
new voters, the women, are peculiarly concerned and in a position of
past experience and of present activity to add much weight and value
to the debate it occasions, is this:
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