Page:Thomas Hare - The Election of Representatives, parliamentary and municipal.djvu/379

Rh self hostile to the proposed measure. If the government had proposed Hare's system in its entiretyn he would gladly have assented to the proposition; but for other and far more important reasons than the representation of minorities; but it merely suggested the adoption in a mangled form of one feature of the system applied to four particular constituencies, and for which he had heard nothing urged which had any weight on his mind.

Mr. said that the present clause was copied from the bill previously introduced by the member for Portland, to whom Mr. Mill had written to express his gratification that a representation of minorities was to be attempted. The principle of such a representation was the result of the best and most philosophical opinions. He adverted to Lord John Russell's proposal in the bill of 1854, and the interruption to the progress of reform caused by the Crimean War, and addressed himself especially to the arguments with regard to the force which might be acquired by the professors of religious or political opinions.

Mr., admitting that, theoretically, it was correct that minorities should be represented, said the bill did not carry the principle out. It was possible that some opinions might not be represented in the House, but this "was an evil which could not be obviated: they must stop somewhere, or else a minority of one intelligent voter might demand to be represented.

Mr. appealed to members, in considering this question on the high ground from which it deserved to be reviewed, to discard from their minds all thoughts of the effect of the clause upon local political parties. If they did so, whatever the present conclusion might be, the discussion could not be fruitiess, for it would tend to educate the community. After replying to arguments of preceding speakers, he expressed his belief that the more the question was discussed and examined the more likely it was that at a future day a full system of representation would be brought forward by some government possessing the confidence of the country. He did not know any country in the world in which such a system could be more judiciously tried than in Victoria, a colony accustomed from its infancy to the exercise of political privileges. He hoped to see the day when public opinion would be so enlightened that, no longer seen through the narrow medium of local or sectarian jeedousies, this most equitable scheme would be adopted with the full approbation of all thinking and right-minded persons.

Mr. opposed the clause. If the question of minorities were to be dealt with, it should be considered in all its bearings, and not upon a clause by which the principle was introduced in a mangled form. Hare's proposition was not before the House.

Captain regarded the representation of minorities as opposed to the great principle of constitutional government—the rule of the majority.

Mr. predicted that the adoption of such a clause would lead to anarchy, like that in America.