The Express.
London, England, 1860-12-22 00:00:00

BALLOT MEETING AT STRATFORD.

A public meeting to promote the adoption of
the ballot was held in the TemEeranee.ball, High-street,
Stratford, on Thursday evening ; EBENEZER CLARKE, Esq.,
presided. The Rev. W. H. Bonner, Mr. Whitehurst, Mr.
M. E. Marsden, and Mr. Man attended as a deputation from
the Ballot Society.
The CHLMIIaIf, in opening the proceedings, said after
thirty years' experience of political life, his conviction of
the necessity of the ballot was increased and strengthened.
Mr. WIIITERURAE addressed the meeting on behalf of
the deputation, and exposed at considerable length the
undue influences inherent in our present system in support
of the proposition that the ballot would be • sufficient pre.
ventive against bribery. He read entracte front
the evidence of Mr. Serjeaet Pigott, M.P., Mr. Vaughan,
Mr. Welford, and other witnesses examined before the recent
committee of the House of Commons, referring to the argu.
ment that the ballot would lead to electors exercising
secret irresponsible power. He said the giving of a vote by
an individual was a lees exercise of power, and produced
less wide and lase important consequences, than writing an
article in a newspaper, but the newspaper writer has the
power of writing anonymously, while the voter cannot give
an anonymous vote. Tree, this anonymous power was
sometimes abused. The speaker referring to au article
in the Times on Mr. Gilpin, said that judging
from the internal evidence of style it was by
one member of the government against another mem-
ber ; it was • violent attack against Mr. Gilpiu for re-
maining faithful to the cause of reform, and probably the
writer would not have written that article had he been
obliged, as in Frew., to sign his name to what
be had written ; but the abuse of a thing was no reason
against its use. When Mr. Sidney Herbert spoke of
the improvement to the press which would follow
the abolition of the system of anonymous writing,
the Times begged to decline what it called Mr.
Herbert's insidious attentions, and said "he knows,
and we know, that it is just the anonymous c haracter of
the press that baa secured it. independence." Another
paper no friend to reform, the Saturday Rerieu', reviewing
Mr. Herbert's speech and the Tires'article, said, "An
anonymous press is noes ry—f for no other reason—be-
cause it is the only channel through which any man dares
to say what he thinks." Substitute "suffrage" for
" press," and " vote" for "say," and you have a statement
of the argument for the ballot. The two cues are identi-
fied in principle, and inseparable in lcific.
The Rev. W. H. Bosuns thought it perfectly consistent
with his character as a minister of Christ to advocate the
ballot, and argued for Its adoption on moral and scriptural
grounds. He nanstod the systems/ terrorism which the
governing powers in the borough of Bridgnorth adopted
after the Reform Bill of 1832, and by which they bad
gained an ascendancy over the electors at the borough. Re-
ferring to the objection that promise.breaking would follow
the adoption of the ballot, he pointed out the difference be-
tween the premien given to Mr. Seovell and the votes
polled by him, showing that the evil feared existed now.
On the supremacy of the obligation the elector owes to hie
country over any promises made to candidates or others he
quoted Dernoethenes'oration on the "False Embusy," ands,
recent lecture on the „Morals of Electioneering" by the
Rev. Newman Hall.

Mr. M. E.. MARSDEN and Mr. MAN briefly addreated the
meeting.
The following resolution wu unanimously agreed to
"That the vote by ballot is indispensably necessary to the
true representation of the people in parliament, and that
county constituencies especially require its protection
spinet the undue influence of the landed interests."