Page:Wilhelm Liebknecht - Socialism; What It Is and What It Seeks to Accomplish - tr. Mary Wood Simons (1899).djvu/54

 the working people. Fifteen years ago this question was an "apple of discord"; now there exists in relation to it not the slightest difference of opinion, and so I pass from this point.

Further, we demand proportional representation. This point is not in the former platform; hut the demand is so self-evident and it has been so frequently analyzed and recommended by our papers that I need not dwell upon it. I will merely say that this form of election is the only one which makes possible a representation according to actual voters and does away with the inequality of election districts and the accidents of majorities which defeat the popular will. It makes the representation correspond exactly to the number of voters in the party. The election district being done away with, the whole state becomes erected into one elective body and representation will be determined by means of a simple arithmetical operation; this party has cast so many votes and another so many, so and so many representatives are to be chosen as a whole, and these representatives are apportioned according to the number of voters in each party. This is so clear that every impartial observer must understand it at once. Only the interests of the ruling class are in the way. Our party would gain great advantage from this system, for as you know we are scattered over all Germany. We are not located as the "center” and the other parties are only in definite districts, concentrated in single places. The social democrats are everywhere in Germany as they are everywhere in the world. But we are a young party and the election districts in which we have a majority are comparatively few. By the present system of elections the greater part of our votes are lost. According to proportional representation the number of our representatives would be doubled, perhaps even trebled.