70 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HARE SYSTEM 



not fall far short of the more complete Hare scheme with its 

 method of preference and transfer voting. 



Those who ignore this keystone or foundation of the Hare 

 system, and restrict their attention entirely to peddling or 

 unimportant details — such as the element of chance involved in 

 quota-excess transfer votes — fail altogether to comprehend the 

 grandeur and perfection of the cardinal features of the system, 

 which secures just and equitable representation of all forces 

 whether of majorities or minorities. The main feature of the 

 Hare-Electorate or Electoral Division is, that it shall be 

 sufficiently large and untrammelled so as to permit the units of 

 any representative party or body of opinion to unite together, 

 if numerous enough to command a quota ; that is, such a pro- 

 portion of electors, as on the basis of numbers, would entitle 

 the latter to return their just share, viz. one parliamentary 

 representative. This provision also involves the breaking 

 down of all arbitrary and unreasonable sub-divisions which, 

 as in the unequal ward system of cities, have hitherto pre- 

 vented the otherwise wasted surplusage of aggregate majorities 

 or minorities, in one division of common locality interests, 

 from joining forces with the weaker members of their respec- 

 tive parties similarly restricted in a neighbouring arbitrary 

 sub-division ; and so unjustly preventing the true ideal of real 

 equality of representation, i.e., representation of minorities and 

 majorities in proportion to numbers. That this should be 

 regarded as the most important feature of the Hare system is 

 certain, and is so regarded by ail great thinkers who have 

 devoted any attention to the subject. This opinion is suf- 

 ficiently supported by a quotation from one of England's 

 greatest thinkers— John Stuart Mill (p. 56, 57, " On Repre- 

 sentative Government ") : " But real equality of representation 

 is not obtained unless any set of electors amounting to the 

 average number of a constituency, wherever . . . they 

 happen to reside, have the power of combining with one 

 another to return a representative. This degree of perfection 

 in representation appeared impracticable until a man of great 

 capacity, fitted alike for large general views and for the con- 

 trivance of practical details — Mr. Thomas Hare — had proved 

 its possibility by drawing up a scheme for its accomplishment, 

 embodied in a draft of an Act of Parliament ; a scheme which 

 has the almost unparalleled merit of carrying out a great 

 principle of government in a manner approaching to ideal per- 

 fection as regards the special object in view, while it attains 

 incidentally several other ends of scarcely inferior importance. 

 . . . . The more these works are studied the stronger I 

 venture to predict will be the impression of the perfect feasi- 



