EDITOR'S TABLE. 



125 



wealth, three of which will probably 

 never have a population sufficient to en- 

 title them to more than one represent- 

 ative, were admitted into the Union by 

 the last Congress — for partisan reasons. 



It is provided in the Constitution that 

 if the electoral colleges fail to choose a 

 President, the election shall be made 

 by the House of Representatives, when 

 each State, large or small, shall be en- 

 titled to cast one vote. Mr. Ashley 

 shows in a table that under the present 

 apportionment the House of Represent- 

 atives being composed of three hundred 

 and fifty-six members, twenty-three 

 small States, being just a majority of 

 the forty-four, having altogether only 

 seventy-two members, could decide the 

 election — that is, the case might arise 

 in which "less than one sixth of the 

 members of the House, representing less 

 than one sixth of the population of the 

 nation, can elect the President." Further, 

 of these seventy-two members, fifty-five 

 could cast the votes of the twenty-three 

 States, making the discrepancy still 

 worse. It is not practically likely that 

 the small States will ever combine their 

 votes in this way, but the possibility 

 exists. 



A more imminently threatening 

 danger to our institutions, extra-con- 

 stitutional, but hardly the less binding 

 for that, exists in the nominating con- 

 vention system, which "has grown to 

 be a monster political despotism, and 

 in both parties is to day the absolute 

 master of the people." Under it the 

 people are in effect, in a large propor- 

 tion of cases, deprived of all voice in 

 the management of public affairs. It 

 works in with several features of the 

 law in the manner of conducting elec- 

 tions so as to leave helpless the voter 

 who would be independent, and to pro- 

 mote the schemes of designing, dis- 

 honest men. For the latter purpose it 

 is a most admirable instrument. 



All these defects in our system of 

 government call for some means of rem- 

 edy, and the subject should be one of 



anxious thought to til the friends of 

 popular institutions. Mr. Ashley's ob- 

 ject in calling attention to them was to 

 bring out the remedy he has devised, 

 which he presents in the form of a series 

 of constitutional amendments. It is not 

 within our province to discuss the merits 

 of his plan. We point out the need, 

 and remark that it has engaged the se- 

 rious attention of at least one earnest 

 thinker. 



Constitutions can not be made to 

 order to last for all time. Governments, 

 like all other things, are a growth, an 

 evolution, are affected by the changes 

 in the conditions of the medium, and 

 need to be conformed to them. Condi- 

 tions inevitably arise from time to time 

 that can not be foreseen, and must be 

 met as they appear. Our Constitution 

 was for a long time considered nearly 

 perfect, because it well met the condi- 

 tions for which it was made. That 

 modifications and new provisions should 

 be found to be needed in time is not the 

 fault of the instrument or of its makers, 

 but a consequence of the inexorable 

 law of evolution. While hasty and 

 trivial tinkering are to be deprecated, 

 the existence of that law should be 

 recognized, and there should be no hesi- 

 tation in adapting the Constitution to 

 its workings. 



PREVENTION OF CHOLERA EPIDEMICS. 

 If we were asked to name what in 

 our opinion is the most important serv- 

 ice of science to modern civilization, we 

 should say that it consists in the means 

 that have been given to man to prevent 

 the spread of epidemic disease. It is 

 not so very long ago that large cities 

 the world over were quite unable to 

 exclude such a disease as cholera, and 

 when once it had gained a foothold 

 they were wholly at its mercy until 

 change of season or some other unex- 

 plained cause changed the conditions 

 favorable to its spread. Attention was 

 for centuries concentrated on methods 

 of treatment, and down to fifty years 



