t was rather thrust upon the man selected as a duty he
owed the community. The choice would usually be unanimous, since there
would be some men whose recognized influence and attainments would mark
them off as most fitted for the position. If there was any difference of
opinion it would be merely as to who was best fitted to represent all,
and therefore there would never be any excluded minority.

The essential difference in the second stage is that every election is
contested by two organized parties. The choice is now not of men only,
but of measures and of men as well. It is a contest in the first place
within each party as to who is best fitted to represent the party, and
in the second place between the two parties for the support of the
people. The party in a majority secures all the representation; the
party in a minority none. Now, the minority is certainly not represented
by the choice of the majority; on the contrary, its views are exactly
the opposite. Hence the question arises: Is not this exclusion of the
minority an injustice? Does it not amount to disfranchisement? The usual
reply is either that the majority must rule or that the injustice done
in some electorates is balanced in others, so that in the long run rough
justice is obtained.

As to the first contention, it is the party which has the support of a
majority of the whole people which should rule; and the excluded
minority in some of the electorates belongs to this party. The second
practically amounts to the statement that two wrongs make a right.

A practice prevails in the United States which will illustrate the
position. Each State sends a number of representatives to Congress
proportional to its population, and the division into electorates is
left to the State. By manipulating the electoral boundaries the party
which has a majority in each State is enabled to arrange that the
injustice done to itself is a minimum, and that the injustice done to
the opposing party is a maximum. By this iniquitous practice, which is
known as the gerrymander, the party in a minority in each State is
allowed to get only about one-half or one-quarter of its proper share of
representation. But as the practice is universal in all the States, the
injustice done to a party in some States is balanced in others. Will
those who seek to excuse the injustice done to the minority in each
electorate by the present system of election seriously contend that the
same argument