THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 63 



and the island was infested with sinecure offices. Repub- 

 lics were more economical, more humane, and more just. 

 And the example of France and America was a painful 

 contrast and cogent argument against the aristocratic and 

 monarchical governments of Great Britain, Germany and 

 Austria. It was true there were some seeming failures. 

 New York city was called a failure, but New York city 

 is in reality an imperialism. Not democracy, not repub- 

 licanism were on trial, but bureaucracy and one man gov- 

 ernment. The Mayor was an emperor in disguise. There 

 should be at least three hundred councilmen to prevent 

 fraud, and there should be sixty aldermen, and these 

 should really be the legislature of New York. 



There was an essential difference between the American 

 and English or European idea of government. The Eng- 

 lish regarded government as a kind of pageantry. America 

 regarded it as a business. 



The introduction of minority representation, as prac- 

 tised in Illinois, was hoped in France. It was an ideal 

 system of perfect representation, and was essential in 

 order to get perfect justice done. If there were 240 

 members to the house of representatives, and 100,000 

 democrats and 200,000 republicans, minority representa- 

 tion by the cumulative system and triple districts, would 

 give democrats 80, and republicans 160 of these repre- 

 sentatives. The French would be successful, and would 

 even show improvements in reference to voting and 

 deliberative assemblies which would be of value in this 

 country. Republicanism, struggling amid military mon- 

 archies, was indeed in perilous straits, but had the sym- 

 pathy of the oppressed subjects of feudalism. 



