r device already
in use, but scarcely more than a form; I mean the requiring of a
seconder before a proposal can be debated. The signification of this
must be, that in order to obtain the judgment of an assembly on any
proposal, the mover must have the concurrence of one other member; a
most reasonable condition surely. What I would urge farther in the same
direction is that, instead of demanding one person in addition to the
mover, as necessary in all cases, there should be a varying number
according to the number of the assembly. In a copartnery of three or
four, to demand a seconder to a motion would be absurd; in a body of six
or eight it is scarcely admissible. I have known bodies of ten and
twelve, where motions could be discussed without a seconder; but even
with these, there would be a manifest propriety in compelling a member
to convince at least one other person privately before putting the body
to the trouble of a discussion. If, however, we should begin the
practice of seconding with ten, is one seconder enough for twenty,
fifty, a hundred, or six hundred? Ought there not to be a scale of
steady increase in the numbers whose opinions have been gained
beforehand? Let us say three or four for an assembly of five-and-twenty,
six for fifty, ten or fifteen for a hundred, forty for six hundred. It
is permissible, no doubt, to bring before a public body resolutions that
there is no immediate chance of carrying; what is termed "ventilating"
an opinion is a recognized usage, and is not to be prohibited. But when
business multiplies, and time is precious, a certain check should be put
upon the ventilating of views that have as yet not got beyond one or two
individuals; the process of conversion by out-of-door agency should have
made some progress in order to justify an appeal to the body in the
regular course of business. That the House of Commons should ever be
occupied by a debate, where the movers could not command more than four
or five votes, is apparently out of all reason. The power of the
individual is unduly exalted at the expense of the collective body.
There are plenty of other opportunities of gaining adherents to any
proposal that has something to be said for it; and these should be plied
up to the point of securing a certain minimum of concurrence, before the
ear of the House can be commanded. With a body of six hundred and fifty,
the number of previously obtained adherents would not be extravagantly
high