CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



185 



nority one member. In districts having five 

 members each voter would be entitled to vote 

 for but three members. I state this for the 

 purpose of calling the attention of members of 

 the House to the fact that this bill embodies 

 more than a mere apportionment, and relates 

 to the election of members of this House upon 

 a principle different from the one heretofore 

 adopted. I therefore think the reference of 

 this bill should be properly to the Committee 

 on Elections." 



The previous question was seconded, and the 

 main question ordered. 



The House divided ; and the tellers reported 

 that there were yeas 94, nays 34; and the 

 bill was referred to the Select Committee on 

 the Census. 



Mr. Cox, of New York, subsequently said : 

 " It appears that on the census of 1880, by the 

 increase from 293 to 294, Massachusetts gains 

 1 ; by the increase to 295, Louisiana gains 1 ; 

 by the increase to 296, Pennsylvania gains 1 ; 

 by the increase to 297, Maryland gains 1 ; by 

 the increase to 298, New York gains 1 ; by the 

 increase to 299, Alabama gains 1 ; and when the 

 number of Representatives is increased to 300, 

 one of the striking features of the table appears. 

 It is a curious eccentricity of mathematics a 

 paradox. The paradox is that Alabama loses, 

 at 300, the Representative she gained at 299, 

 and Texas and Illinois gain 1 each. At 301, 

 Alabama regains the Representative so lost; 

 by the increase to 302, Florida gains 1 ; by the 

 increase to 303, Ohio gains 1 ; by the increase 

 to 304, North Carolina gains 1 ; by the in- 

 crease to 305, Tennessee gains 1 ; by the in- 

 crease to 306, Pennsylvania gains 1 ; by the 

 increase to 307, New York gains another, 

 making two gains over 293, under the census 

 of 1880, but still New York even then loses 1 

 from her present number assigned her under 

 the apportionment of 1870. 



"Compared with the present number, under 

 the census of 1870, each member can make his 

 own calculation as to gains and losses. There 

 are losses. There always will be during a 

 lapse of ten years. The largest House we ever 

 had before 1863 was under the census of 1830. 

 Massachusetts then had 20 members ; now she 

 has 11. New York then had 40 members; 

 now she will not hold her present number, 33, 

 unless the number of members is 307. Vir- 

 ginia at one time had 23 ; now she has 9. New 

 Hampshire once had 6 ; now she has 3. The 

 losses are comparative, and every apportion- 

 ment has witnessed such reductions. Ver- 

 mont and New Hampshire may gain in popu- 

 lation, but not relatively. They must lose in 

 this apportionment, unless we make the num- 

 ber of members inordinately large. But all 

 this is to be judged on a scrutiny of the tables. 

 How high we must run the number of mem- 

 bers so that no State will lose, members can 

 compute for themselves from the data to be 

 printed." 



Mr. Cox, by unanimous consent, introduced 



a bill (H. R. No. 6958) making an apportion- 

 ment of Representatives in Congress among 

 the several States under the tenth census ; 

 which was read a first and second time, re- 

 ferred to the Joint Select Committee on the 

 census, and ordered to be printed. 

 The bill is as follows : 



An act making an apportionment of Eepresentatives In Con- 

 gress among the several States under the tenth census. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represent- 

 atives of the United States of America in Congress 

 assembled, After the 3d of March, 1883, the House of 

 Representatives shall be composed of three hundred 

 and one members, to be apportioned among the sev- 

 eral States as follows : 



Alabama, 8 ; Arkansas, 5 ; California, 5 ; Colorado, 

 1 ; Connecticut, 4 ; Delaware, 1 ; Florida, 1 ; Georgia, 

 9; Illinois, 19; Indiana, 12; Iowa, 10; Kansas, 6; 

 Kentucky, 10 ; Louisiana, 6 ; Maine, 4 ; Maryland, 6 ; 

 Massachusetts, 11 ; Michigan, 10 ; Minnesota, 5 ; Mis- 

 sissippi, 7 ; Missouri, 13 ; Nebraska, 3 ; Nevada, 1 ; 

 New Hampshire, 2 ; New Jersey, 7 ; New York, 31 ; 

 North Carolina. 8 Ohio, 19 ; Oregon, 1 ; Pennsyl- 

 vania, 26 ; Rhode Island, 2 ; South Carolina, 6 ; Ten- 

 nessee, 9 ; Texas, 10 ; Vermont, 2 ; Virginia, 9 ; West 

 Virginia, 4 ; Wisconsin, 8. 



SECTION 2. Whenever a new State is admitted to 

 the Union, the Representative or Representatives as- 

 signed to it shall be added to the number. 



SEC. 3. In each State entitled under this apportion- 

 ment the number to which such State may be entitled 

 in the Forty-eighth and each subsequent Congress, 

 shall be elected by districts composed of contiguous 

 territory, and containing as nearly as practicable an 

 equal number of inhabitants, and equal in number to 

 the Representatives to which such State may be en- 

 titled in Congress, no one district electing more than 

 one Representative. 



Subsequently the Committee on the Census 

 made their report. 



Mr. Cox: " I am directed by the Committee 

 on the Census to report, as a substitute for 

 House bill No. 6958, a bill (H. R. No. 7026) 

 making an apportionment of Representatives 

 in Congress among the several States under the 

 tenth census. The majority fix the number of 

 members under the tenth census at three hun- 

 dred and eleven, and the minority, in their 

 amendment, at three hundred and nineteen." 



The bill reported by Mr. Cox from the Com- 

 mittee on the Census is as follows : 



Be it enacted, etc., That after the 3d of March, 1883, 

 the House of Representatives shall be composed of 

 three hundred and eleven members, to be apportioned 

 among the several StateSj as follows : Alabama, eight ; 

 Arkansas, five ; California, five : Colorado, one ; Con- 

 necticut, tour ; Delaware, one ; Florida, two ; Georgia, 

 ten ; Illinois, nineteen ; Indiana, thirteen ; Iowa, ten ; 

 Kansas, six ; Kentucky, ten ; Louisiana, six ; Maine, 

 four ; Maryland, six ; Massachusetts, eleven ; Michi- 

 gan, ten; Minnesota, five; Mississippi, seven; Mis- 

 souri, fourteen ; Nebraska, three ; Nevada, one ; New 

 Hampshire, two ; New Jersey, seven ; New York, 

 thirty-two ; North Carolina, nine ; Ohio, twenty ; 

 Oregon, one ; Pennsylvania, twenty-seven ; Rhode 

 Island, two ; South Carolina ? six ; Tennessee, ten ; 

 Texas, ten ; Vennont, two ; Virginia, ten ; West Vir- 

 ginia, four ; and Wisconsin, eight. 



The accompanying report is as follows: 



The Committee on the Census, to whom was re- 

 ferred the question of apportionment among the sev- 

 eral States under the tenth census, beg leave to report 

 the following bill, which enacts that after the 3d of 

 March, 1883, the House of Representatives shall be 



