e, Pennsylvania and Texas have the
same representation in a National Democratic Convention that they have
in a National Republican Convention, although one is usually Republican
in National elections and the other Democratic. And why should not the
representation from those States be the same in both conventions? Why
should Texas, because it is believed to be safely Democratic, have more
power and influence in a Democratic Convention on that account than the
Republican State of Pennsylvania? The answer may be because one is a
Democratic and the other a Republican State--because one can be relied
upon to give its electoral votes to the candidates of the Democratic
party while the other cannot. But this is not in harmony with our
governmental system. Representation in Congress being based upon
population, every State, section and locality has its relative weight
and influence in the government in accordance with the number of its
inhabitants.

That this is the correct principle will not be seriously questioned when
it is carefully considered. What is true of Pennsylvania and Texas in a
National Democratic Convention is equally true of the same States in a
National Republican Convention, and for the same reasons. The argument
that Pennsylvania should have relatively a larger representation in a
National Republican Convention than Texas, because the former is
reliably Republican while the latter is hopelessly Democratic, is just
as fallacious in this case as in the other. But it is said that
delegates from States that cannot contribute to the success of the
ticket should not have a potential voice in nominating a ticket that
other States must be depended upon to elect. Then why not exclude them
altogether, and also those from the territories and the District of
Columbia?

The argument is unsound, and unreasonable; a State may be reliably
Republican at one election and yet go Democratic at the next. In 1872
General Grant, the Republican candidate for President, carried nearly
every State in the Union, in the South as well as in the North. Four
years later Governor Hayes, the Republican candidate for President,
came within one vote of being defeated in the electoral college; and
even then his election was made possible only through the decision of
the Electoral Commission. In 1880 General Garfield, the Republican
candidate for President, carried New York, and was elected; while four
years later Mr. Blaine, the candidate of