In Germany the most elaborate form of Proportional Representation yet
devised was applied, and the results t'kere again are thoroughly disappointing. The elections, though unquestionably giving fair representation to small, and even obscure, groups, leave the only issue which at the moment really matters in an indeterminate and vague state. That makes legislation with real authority more difficult than it has ever been. A single transferable vote might supply some measure of justice to minorities without paralyzing the power of a Govern- ment to legislate on a principal issue, but the one and only means of securing that minorities shall not be obliterated by majorities, that log-rolling groups steal not roll their logs with sinister success, and that the insidious and hidden dangers of minority rule shall be prevented, is the Referendum. The Referendum, as has been proved in the many countries which have tried it, gives the clear and true answer of the people to the question : " Do you, or do you not, want this particular Bill which has been passed through all its stages ? " It means fairness for all. Let us concentrate on the Referendum. It does not, as Proportional Representa- tion apparently does in practice, defeat the aims of democracy while professing to serve t hem.
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