for two things: a membership representing constituencies, so that the body itself may reflect the opinion of constituents on matters which have not been referred to the electorate; and a membership which may keep in contact with citizenship, so that it can have independent judgment on questions currently raised for discussion and a vote.

Present Membership Represents Territory and Not Constituencies

The present membership of the legislature does not represent constituencies in any sense which will enable it accurately to reflect opinion on statewide matters; it represents territory. Its selection is based on geographic lines.

Territorial Idea Originally Justified

The reason for geographic representation is purely historic. When representative government originated, it was the result of opposition that was locally organized. Recognizing this fact a parliament, whose membership was territorial, was employed by the king to obtain the consent of the locally organized opposition to the imposition of taxation. And in assigning or agreeing to representatives, he selected agents of the most important local subdivisions for these very obvious reasons. They were in control of the resources that the king sought to reach, and of people whose ill-will he could not afford to incur.

Significance of Geographic Subdivisions Lost

At that time and for centuries the territorial subdivisions, such as counties and boroughs, were fairly uniform in their interests and in their demands on the central government. Within recent times economic and social interests have taken on a new alignment. Instead of self-centered communities, in whose affairs interests are common, the principle of specialization and subdivision in individual employment has operated so that constituencies based on community of interest are not territorial but functional and state-wide in their organization and association.

Only One Territorial Issue Remains

Beside this, the fairly equal distribution of the population which formerly made the representation of these local units reasonably equitable, has by a rapid process of development in the mechanical arts given way to a relatively more sparsely settled country and highly congested cities. This situation obtains in New York even to greater extent than elsewhere. There is now no such thing as even a rough equality between counties and towns, and local representation has come to mean almost nothing when considering matters of state-wide importance.

Evils of Present System of Representation

The acceptance of the purely fortuitous boundary lines of county and town has more than a negative importance. It places representatives

in the attitude of local competition and reduces the legislature as a branch of the government to the plane of a commercial exchange in which local representatives bicker for advantage. A second result has been to pit the country against the town in a contest of strength, which not infrequently defeats measures necessary to the highest welfare of the people of the state. A third result is that it causes the legislature to retain control over many local matters that could best be left to county or municipal government.

Even assuming that territory and not constituencies are of primary importance, the system has worked badly. It is true, the present constitution requires that each senate district shall contain as nearly as may be an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, and that representation in the assembly shall be apportioned among the several counties of the state as nearly as may be according to the number of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens. But, as is well known, the principle embodied in these provisions is grossly violated by limitations imposed by the constitution itself (such as the provision that each county except Hamilton shall have one assemblyman regardless of its population) and by the methods of apportionment employed by both political parties. The gerrymander, which is persistently used, is openly designed to defeat responsibility by securing to the dominant party which resorts to it a representation larger than that to which its vote entitles it, and the gerrymander cannot be prevented as long as the single member district is the basis of apportionment.

New Adaptations Made in Other Political Jurisdictions

In other jurisdictions and political systems where the need for a new method of defining constituencies has been recognized, the principle of proportional representation has been adopted. This has led to the abolition of the single member district and the establishment of a system of membership responsive to constituencies by giving to each. reorganized constituency representation approximately according to its voting strength. For this method it is claimed that it works justice to all parties, guarantees an approximately exact reflection of all shades of public opinion in the legislature and establishes in fact, as well as in name, a legislature responsive to the will of the people. Whether by this or other methods, the end is accomplished, fulfillment of the essential purpose of a representative body in government requires that the present territorial system be abandoned.

The Bicameral Organization Originally Founded on Class Interests

Another problem involving the lack of adaptation of organization to work to be done is presented in the two-chamber assembly. The bicameral legislature was founded on the idea of constituencies. In its origin the

upper house of the legislature, both in Europe and in New York, was distinctly a class institution, designed to protect a well-defined property interest against a radical unpropertied numerical majority. The English House of Lords represented the landed interests of England. So the first senate of New York, under the constitution of 1777, represented the landed proprietors, as none but freeholders could sit in that body or vote for members of that body Likewise, in some other states distinction was first made between the upper and lower houses on the basis of property or taxation, and it was everywhere contended by the defenders of the system that if both houses were elected by voters possessing the same qualifications, all grounds for the existence of the second chamber would disappear. Although, in the early years of the republic, legislatures and conventions of delegates yielded to the increasing demands for an electorate in which no class distinctions would obtain and swept them away, the bicameral system was nevertheless retained.

It is a significant fact that about the time the check of a distinct electorate for the senate was removed, the practice of protecting the rights of minorities against popular will by means of judicial control developed with extraordinary rapidity. To the judicial control exercised over legislation by the state courts, was added the control of the federal courts, particularly after the enactment of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States which, by prohibiting states to deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, established positive standards for the protection of individual rights against state legislatures throughout the whole American empire.

While these changes affecting the position of the state legislatures were taking place, a third development was exercising a profound influence on the working of the bicameral principle, namely, the growth of strong party organizations capable of controlling, when in power, both houses of the legislature and rendering the idea of the houses checking each other practically obsolete. A thorough study of the operations of the New York legislature recently made by a capable observer shows. pretty conclusively the failure of the check and balance principle in actual practice when the same party controls both houses.* The useless and irritating friction which occurs when the two houses are in the possession of opposing parties needs no description here.

In considering whether the provision for a bicameral body shall be retained in the new constitution these facts should therefore be taken into account:

1. The original justification and chief reason for two houses, i. e., the representation of the landed interest in the senate. have disappeared with the establishment of identical suffrage for voters for both houses.

*Colvin, The New York Legislature: A Study in the Bicameral Principle.

2. Adequate control for the protection of private rights exists in the fourteenth amendment to the federal Constitution.

3. Party organization destroys the check and balance principle now employed in defence of the theory.

4. When the two houses are possessed by opposing parties wastefulness, friction and political folly usually ensue.

The change to the single chamber system has been effected, after long experiments with the other, in the legislatures of most of the leading cities of the country, some of which have larger budgets than that of the state of New York. Aside from the fact that the reason for the original institution of two houses has disappeared, it has been found as a matter of experience that it adds enormously to the cost of government; it divides responsibility; and it gives opportunity for thwarting the public will through maneuvering for delays and deadlocks that could not obtain with one house. It is, therefore, a matter for serious consideration whether these evils which are admitted to be connected with the system do not outweigh the accepted arguments that may be advanced in support of the bicameral principle.

Number of Members of the Legislature Not Determined by Standards of

Responsiveness and Efficiency

The number of members of our state legislature has always been determined by reference to local, party and historical considerations, and not by standards of responsiveness or efficiency. As a result, we find 402 members to the lower house in New Hampshire with a population of 430,572, and 150 members in New York with a population of 9,113,614. In 1777, when New York had a population of about 300,000, the constitution made provision for 24 senators; in 1821 the number was increased to 32; and in 1894 it was fixed at 50, with an arrangement for adding one more senator upon certain contingencies. The number of members of the assembly was fixed at 70 in the first constitution, at 128 in 1821 and 1846, and at 150 in 1894. If we apply standards of responsiveness and efficiency to the determination of the number of members in a legislative assembly it is necessary to take in account: (1) the means of reaching and keeping in touch with constituents, (2) the number needed for doing the committee and other work of a reviewing and approving body, and (3) time limits upon debate in the transaction of business.

The Relation of Members to Constituencies

With reference to the first it is clear that with the modern press and means of travel and communication a representative to-day can keep in closer touch with 100,000 constituents than his predecessor a century ago could, with one-tenth the number. But this is not all that is required. Citizens should have some means for coming into personal contact with

members of the policy determining branch of the government, so that from this viewpoint a large membership in a state having a large population is preferable to a small membership.

The Relation of Members to Committee Work and Debate

The membership of the legislative body should also bear some relation to the increasing number of activities of the government and provide opportunities for constituencies to be represented in the principal committees. This suggests increasing rather than decreasing membership. With reference to the problem of securing ample debate, however, it may be noted that the United States Senate, a body of 96 members, has been able to maintain substantial unlimited discussion (whereas in the House of Representatives it is closely restricted), and it has also proved to be a remarkably efficient body in the technique of law-making, at least as compared with the lower house.

Assuming that the present organization and procedure are to be retained, the mere fact of numbers is of great importance. While mathematical tests cannot be imposed, it is safe to say that even though a single chamber were established, one hundred members would constitute a large enough working body for the expeditious transaction of business. But it is further to be noted, that with a system which provides for responsible leadership, and in which the legislature is used to enforce responsiveness and responsibility, a much larger membership has not proved incompatible with efficiency, in fact, it has often proved to be of advantage in representing constituencies and in committee work, at the same time maintaining a high order of debate.

Legislature Not Complementary to Other Working Parts

As has been said, there is nothing which will justify a misfit, and one branch of the government is a misfit if it is inconsistent with the purpose of its own existence and is not harmonious in its action with other parts. By this test both the organization and procedure of the legislature are defective. They are defective:

1. In the rules governing its action while in session.

2. In the organization of its standing and special committees. 3. In its staff agencies.

Rules Governing Legislature in Session Out of Harmony With Purpose

The organization of the legislature in session is a simple matter which conforms to that of other large representative bodies, consisting of a presiding officer, clerk, sergeant-at-arms, pages, etc. The difference lies in the procedure governing the debate and the taking of votes. Already these defects have been described. What has been said may be summarized in a paragraph.