Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c14.s4.26

c14.s4.26

A way of amicable settlement was discovered in a system of committees—a system that, in ancient as in modern times, has formed a necessary concomitant of every living assembly. When irrelevant and pointless speeches were made, the matter should be referred to a committee. The proposal for a committee thus partly answers to the closure. But if the committee failed to arrive at a compromise, the matter returned to the full assembly. Here, if the quest for unanimity failed once more, the motion was finally put to the vote. A teller, fearless, impartial, and clever should be appointed by the Assembly itself. He should distribute Śalākās or wooden-pins to the members, and explain the significance of their various colours. Three methods of voting were known—the secret, the whispering, and the open. According to the first, the choice of a pin by a member was not disclosed to any one else. Provision was made for recording the votes of absent members. The votes collected and counted, the voice of the majority should ordinarily prevail. Yebhuyyasi-kassa was the high-sounding name for the rule of majority, one of the master inventions of the political art. It was familiar