it has one for each 15,000 of its population. Compare this with New York. On the basis of population the State of New York, which has a population of 6,000,000, sends thirtyfour members to the House, but as its representation in the Senate is no more than that of the smaller State, this number is only increased to thirty-six in the Electoral College. So what it comes to is this; Nevada has one member for every 15,000, New York one for every 166,666. In other words, every vote cast in Nevada towards the making of a President has more than eleven times the value of one cast in New York. Or to put it another way; the votes of 200,000 people in nine of the less populous States may absolutely neutralise those of the 5,258,014 in Pennsylvania. In the event of the choice being referred to the House in consequence of a failure to obtain a majority in the Electoral College this disparity would be greatly aggravated, for in that case these States would cast nine votes to Pennsylvania's one.

Hitherto I have described only the main wheels of the machine by which Presidents are made, and only those which are provided by the Constitution. But these are by no means all. There are wheels within wheels which only those who have had the opportunity of studying American politics by the Cathode ray are at all able to understand. Before the curtain rises on the first act of the Constitutional drama each party has been hard at work preparing the "party ticket." The mere selection of its nominees for the Electoral College is not usually a matter of much moment, but it may be, as the Bryanites have recently discovered. So far as concerned the nomination of Bryan, the Populists at St. Louis endorsed the action of the Democrats at Chicago, and the two parties united. Hence the name Popocrats-or better still, Demolists- by which the coalition is known. But that fusion was only partial; each party is determined. to run its own Vice-President. This at once splits the "party ticket." The popular vote in each State must be cas for electors who will vote for two persons, one for President and one for Vice-President, and each "party ticket" must contain the names of these two persons. Which two shall it be? Bryan and Sewall or Bryan and Watson? To run twe

tickets would be to court defeat, and to prevent this the skill of the party managers has been sorely taxed.

But that which is always of vital importance is the selection of the presidential candidates. This is done at what is called the "National Convention," each party, of course, holding its own. But that convention is merely the culmination of others. It is composed of delegates from each State in the Union, for the election of whom each State has held its own conventions and fought its own battles. It is these State conventions which primarily decide the policy finally embodied in the party platform. The adoption of a Gold platform by the Republicans at St. Louis merely tabled the results of many a keen contest that had taken place in the various States. So also with the decision of the Democrats in Chicago to run the election on a Free Silver cry. I was present at two of these conventions in the early part of the present year, one in the State of Washington, and one in Nebraska; and I saw something of the intense and bitter feeling which this question excited. And yet it was painfully evident that the main contention was not for principle, but for policy. The wiré-pullers of the party were prepared to win either upon Gold or Silver. The cry adopted was of far less consequence than the chances of victory. That which lies at the back of every electoral struggle in the United States whether for President of the Republic, Governor of the State, or Mayor of a city, and its animating principle, is what is known as "the Spoils System." "To the victor belong the spoils," is the cardinal doctrine of every American politician; in this he "lives and moves, and has his being." To give an adequate idea of all that is involved in the "Spoils System" is no easy task. It is so vast, so complex, and has such countless ramifications, that it baffles description. It has no real likeness to anything either in heaven or on earth. In some respects it is like the octopus, in others like the Harpies of Grecian mythology, in others like the Gorgon. Like the Harpies it has the body of a vulture and is perpetually devoured with pangs of hunger, and like Medusa it has hair of wriggling snakes and the teeth of a wild boar. It is both tangible and intangible, palpable and impalpable; it steals up like sewer gas with effect as deadly; it strikes like the influenza microbe. NO. XI. (VOL. IV.)

5

Some idea of what it means may be had from the following fact. When Mr. Cleveland entered upon his second term of office, in 1892, the national plunder that was controlled by the party machine represented the salaries of some 125,000 offices, aggregating 60,000,000 dollars (£12,000,000) annually. Happily through his patriotic action during his present occupancy of the White House, this gigantic evil, so far as concerns Federal appointments, has been considerably lessened. I believe that he has placed nearly half of these offices under the Civil Service, yet it still remains in sufficient proportions to play no little part in every electoral struggle.

To gain these spoils, the whole power of what is appropriately named "the machine" is directed. Its methods are complex and ingenious; it begins with the "caucus" it ends with the ballot, but between these extremes there are various processes. But the power that drives the whole machinery is the "ring," at the head of which is "the boss." "These 'rings and bosses'" (says Mr. Bryce) "substitute for the party voters a small number of professional politicians and their creatures, extracting prearranged nominations from packed meetings and calling this consulting the pleasure of the sovereign people!” These nominations are made at the "Nominating Convention" before mentioned. This is the big wheel that "runs the ticket." Like the "Liberal hundreds" in this country, it consists of delegates chosen at ward meetings which, in America, are called "Primaries." But here the resemblance ceases. Instead of our happy-go-lucky assemblage of any few who take enough interest to attend, the American Primary is a very serious affair. It is held under the authority of the State, and its modus operandi is strictly defined by Statute law. A few days before this, the "caucus" agrees upon a list of names to be submitted to the "Primary" as delegates to the party "Convention." To select from-or merely to elect-these persons the "Primary" is held. It is, in fact, a poll taken by ballot, and conducted with all the legal safeguards, and many of the formalities of a general election.

It will be evident that this machine cannot be worked without funds, for though the legitimate expenses of an election are comparatively small, there are others that are large. But

capital can alw ys be found for a paying business, and even for one that offers only a fair chance of big dividends. Great railway companies, trusts, monopolies, corporations, will invest enormous sums in the Campaign Fund. At Harrison's election in 1888, the Republican Campaign Fund is known to have reached one million dollars, two hundred thousand of which were subscribed by one man, for which he afterwards received a highly lucrative post. The way in which that money is spent is sometimes peculiar. At that same election it was found that the betting in New York was running strongly in favour of Harrison's opponent, accordingly a large sum (I think $30,000) was set aside to counteract the effect this was having on public opinion. Great odds were offered on Harrison, and the losers were recouped from the Campaign Fund. This, however, turned the scale. But the largest expenditure is in what are known as doubtful States, i.e., a State in which the result of the popular vote for the electoral ticket is uncertain. On these States the whole battery of the campaign is divided. It is only waste of ammunition to spend powder and shot on States known to be safe for one party or other. So long as the electoral ticket is carried it matters nothing whether the majority be large or small. The vote will be just as valuable in the Electoral College. It has been truly said that "democracy has as much to fear from the way money is used as from the way it is inherited, and the political 'ring' may become quite as dangerous as social privilege." It would, however, be unfair to judge America by her politicians. Her best citizens are not politicians, and would be ashamed to be considered such. Mr. Bryce says that the reason why the nation can survive with such bad politics is because the people are so good. It may be so; certainly the people are better than the politicians. Someone has divided the population of Europe into three sexes, "men, women, and priests": in America there are "men, women, and politicians."

A. HOLDEN BYLES.

MADAGASCAR AS A FRENCH

COLONY.

II.

(Continued from page 73.)

AFTER the fall of the Bourgeois Ministry, it will be remembered that M. Hanotaux again became Foreign Minister in M. Méline's administration. Whilst out of office, he had rightly deprecated the ill-judged prise de possession which his predecessor, M. Berthelot, had substituted for the originally contemplated protectorate so successfully enforced by Duchesne's expedition; but on resuming office he, M. Hanotaux, found the past could not be retraced, nor could the former system of protectorate possibly be restored. Moreover, foreign Governments were loudly reiterating their demands for categorical explanations, whilst the administration of the island was actually being manipulated by the Colonial Department. The newly reinstated Minister had therefore absolutely no choice in the matter. He lost no time in submitting to Parliament a declaration that henceforth Madagascar and its dependencies would form a French Colony, although it was understood that the Queen would continue to enjoy her position, title, and honours. This was approved by both Chambers of the Legislature; and, thenceforth, it became the duty or unpleasant task of M. André Lebon to adapt the civil organisation, handed over to him by M. Guieysse, to suit the situation, rendered by this time all the more difficult by the perplexities of the insurrection.

It was now admitted that the character of the rebellion was Pagan, and not merely an outbreak of pure lawlessness and