Proportional Representation. 23 



colonies — South Australia — the Legislative Assembly being 

 elected by one vote of the whole community. But even then 

 they would not necessarily secure for any time to come — say for 

 three or four years — a body whose opinions would represent the 

 continued determination of the electorate upon the issues that 

 might arise. Supposing those hundred thousand persons vote, 

 and a hundred persons are elected by the votes of sixty thousand 

 going for them, while forty thousand go for an opposition which 

 does not get elected at all, their hundred elected would be 

 elected by sixty thousand out of the hundred thousand. After 

 a year or two some question arises which splits up the hundred 

 elected, and they divide themselves into sixty on one side and 

 forty on another ; the sixty who form the majority of the hun- 

 dred evidently will not be entitled to say that they represent the 

 sixty thousand who elected the whole of them. They can only 

 say they represent the six-tenths of the sixty thousand — in other 

 words, thirty-six thousand. Twenty-four thousand out of those 

 who voted for them may rightly claim to be represented by the 

 minority in that assembly. Therefore, we have got on the 

 issue so presented, that, after the first year or two, the balance 

 in the elected assembly only represent thirty-six out of the 

 original hundred thousand — in other words, a minority. That 

 process absolutely fails in securing for the assembly the primary 

 characteristic of being from time to time a trustworthy and 

 faithful representation of the opinions of the majority of the 

 electorate. 



What we mean when we talk of representative govern- 

 ment is the securing of an assembly in which there shall 

 be at least people representing both sides on the great ques- 

 tions occupying popular attention — an assembly where some- 

 body shall be able to speak in opposition to, as well as 

 somebody in favour of, the opinions of the majority — where 

 there shall be the power of getting heard what can be said 

 against a proposition as well as what can be said in favour of 

 a proposition ; and if we do not send to the elected body, in the 

 first place, representatives of both sides, we have a body 



