The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-17 00:00:00

THE BALLOT.

Mr. H. BERKELEY then rose to bring forward his
annual motion, to introduce a bill to cause votes at the
elections of members of Parliament to be taken by bal-
lot. The hon. gentleman said that, from the state of
the house just before, he had expected there would have
been no opposition to his motion, but he now saw that
the noble lord at the head of the Government and the
right hon, gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home
Department had arrived; nevertheless, he would venture
to lay the question once more before the house, It would
be remembered that after the Reform Bill passed there
were many eminent men who considered the bill defective.
Amongst others were Lord Macaulay, Mr, Brooke, Lord
Durham, Sir C. Burrell, and others, who complained, first,
that many of the English boroughs were left in a state which
was a positive disgrace to English institutions; and secondly,
that electors had not proper protection at the polling booth.
Mr. Brooke urged the latter view before Parliament for some
years in a series of most logical and argumentative speeches,
that had never yet been answered. The subject was sub•
quently taken up by Sir Henry Ward, who afterwards
requested him (Mr. Berkeley) to be his successor ; and, feel-
ing convinced that the question must some day be settled,
he recommended that it should be brought forward every
year. For that reason he had annually, for the last 15 years,
brought the question before the house. There was no ques-
tion as to the existence of a great grievance, and to I bat mo-
ment the arguments for its abolition were founded upon rea-
soning, which was like an impregnable fortress. It had been
assailed from time to time in that house, no matter which
party were in power, but the attacks had always been unsuc-
cessful. He should not then bring forward any new argu-
ments, but simply throw himself on the defensive. (Hear,
and divide.) The old objection was that the ballot was un-
English and unmanly. He wished therefore to show that a
number of very large establishments conducted their busi-
ness upon the principle of the ballot. Amongst others he
might mention the London Institution, the Royal Astrono-
mical Society, the Society of Antiquaries, the Royal So-
ciety, the London Linnman Society, Christ's Hospital (elec-
tion for Governor), Dulwich College (election of master Of
grammar school), the Bank of England, the Charterhouse,
and the clubs known as the Carlton, Senior and Junior
United Service, Travellers', Oxford and Cambridge Uni-
versity, Brookes's, White's, Boodle's, the Wyndham, and
the Union. He believed also that the Manchester Unity
and the Freemasons elected their masters and treasurers by
the ballot, together with about 20 friendly societies— (divide)
—the Church Missionary Society, the Wesleyan Metho-
dists, the United Methodists, the Free Church, and some
of the Baptists. Finally, in Canada the bishops were
elected by ballot. That was curious evidence of the prac-
tice being un-English and unmanly. (Hear, hear.) An-
other point he wished to refer to was, that the right to vote
was a responsibility which no elector ought to try to evade.
The honourable gentleman then quoted same extracts from
speeches of Earl Russell and Edmund Burke in support
of his views upon the ballot question, and cited some in-
stances of hardship to tenants and electors in consequence
of the ballot not being in operation. At a Cork election
some time back, when Mr. Murphy, Mr. Fagan, and Mr.
Chatterton were candidates, there had been a great struggle,
and a number of men were stationed by the priests to watch
the booth, with the instructions, "We do not want any vio-
lence, but we think that whoever votes for Fagan and
Murphy is a good man, and whoever votes for Chatterton
iwttshr :nbtas n
aeoaeobaarl eemf
rao likernt dha' hnna doTr
tah The
vohospitalt neatnon-voters.
notionst daythan
about
tHoauhe
pt the
tahc
believedeesoef principal inn in the town
however
electors
bentertainmentetihnagt ;
ttyhhe
eet
ballot was founded on abstract truth and justice, and must
at the reeentandp
Totnes, Liakeard,
prevail,
elections gentlemana
tSouthampton,then
East disturb-
ances
Kent,
The hon.
described in
vo
ido'
when
„Parle.vonport. The latter place was
of
th "Parliamentary Guide" as being under
sthinegfuolsartertihnagt
when
mr.ene,akaes of Somerset. It was very
and Mr. Dent put up the
duke's candidate got four-Aftetlahvaeof the votes. That was the
atruncithwbein the allegation, but
(Hear.) He did not
mstaeatenotfoansayEnthgalitsthhebroerowuas
any
toexdctusetat because he
if there were the noble duke would
was a non-elector, and had a right
tenantry. (Hear.) Was he not to do as helikceodrrawiptthtophhiris
asotwi:
In Kent a man had notice to quit for voting forDering agcai 11:
Knatchbull ; but the landlord, having the
Bill before his eyes, afterwards went to the tenant, and said,
" Sir, mind I do not turn you out from any political motive."
And Bo that wonderful Act of Parliament was put aside in a
moment. Another man who was turned out in the saws way,
asked the landlord the reason. The latter said it had nothing
to do with his vote; "but, sir," said he, " I have a
great objection to Roman noses, (Laughter.) You,

sir, have got a nose like a reaping-hook. (Renewed
laughter.) In future I intend to have nothing but snub-
nose tenants,; go back to those who sent you, and tell
them what I told you." (Laughter.):The man went back to
his lawyer and told him what had been said, upon which
the lawyer observed, "No redress; you must consider you
have been turned out on account of your nose." (Laughter.)
Since he has had the honour of addressing them on this
subject, the ballot had been bearing excellent fruit in every
part of the world—even in America—(hear, hear)—it was
looked upon as the support of respectability against an over-
weening democracy. What did the correspondent of the
&nes say of the ballot? He always found that the faithful
correspondents and reporters of that paper were constantly
in opposition to the gentlemen who wrote the leading articles.
The leading article came out one day ferocious against the
ballot, but the next day the correspondent wrote, "that th.
ballot was the only hope of upsetting Abraham Lincoln and
his crew," The correspondent did not say the ballot was
perfect in America, but it was the best institution they had
got in America. (Laughter.) The hon. member then referred
to the recent French elections in proof of the good working
of the ballot in that country, and quoted some remarks
which were made by one of the Opposition candidates in
answer to a series of questions which had been addressed to
him by the Ballot Society. The remarks were to the effect
that the present system of voting in France was the shield of
public lioerty in that country, and that the Opposition can-
didates would not have been returned by open voting. The
hon. member next referred to the working of the ballot in
Australia, and said it was not owing to the existence of the
ballot that the electoral system had broken down in the
colony, but because a residence of three months was made
necessary for the possession of a vote, and also the qualifi-
cation of reading and writing (which last he thought very
proper) ; but when the electoral constitution came to be re-
vised, not a man appeared who said the ballot was at fault.
He begged to place the motion in the hands of the Speaker,
and though he had no hope it would be agreed to, yet he
sat down convinced that the foundation of the ballot was
laid in that house. (Cheers.)
Mr. AYRTON seconded the motion, observing that it
was only the noble lord at the head of the Government who
answered the arguments of his hon. friend; that he did so
with great spirit, and to the satisfaction of hon, members
opposite; but for his own part he believed the arguments of
his hon. friend were unanswerable.
The LORD MAYOR (who rose amid loud cries of
" Divide") said he rose with reluctance, but he felt that
the arguments brought forward by the hon. member for
Bristol were of that nature that it was well they should be
protested against. The hon. member's arguments in sup-
port of this measure were mere fallacies. Amongst other
things ho alluded to the United States, France, and Aus-
tralia; but if the house wanted the strongest arguments
against the unconstitutional and un-English form of seeret
voting they could not have three more convincing illus-
trations against the system. What was the secret of the
United States difficulties ? It was that there were no lead•
ing public men in the country to lead the public mind and
keep them out of their difficulties. (Laughter.) They had
got the ballot, but they had no public-spirited men. (In-
creased laughter.) The United States was a standing
warning to this country. He believed what was going on
in the United States had created a reaction in the public
mind which saved this country from the downward tendency
towards this motion. (Much laughter.) The existence of the
French Government in its present form was due to the ballot
box. And as to Australia, it was a warning to the world to
avoid and eschew the ballot-box. (Laughter.) He thought
the house and the country would say that the ballot-box
was a thing not to be tolerated in this country. They had
publicity. Thank God they had that array of reporters—
(laughter)—and so long as they had publicity they would re-
tain their position; but when they lost that publicity they
would sink to the dead level of the United States. The hon.
member for Bristol had referred to Southampton. That
was one of the greatest election struggles that had occurred
for a long time. They did not want the ballot-box there,
nor did they care for it. More than that, they did not care li
for their masters, but were prepared to vote against their
masters. (Great laughter,)
Viscount PALMERSTON said he would not detain
them more than a few minutes, but he was unwilling that
his hon. friend should go to a division under the impression
that he had convinced him by the mere assertions, which
were frequently made, that all the arguments used in favour
of the motion had been unanswered. His hon. friend had
given his explanation, and, like other great performers, had
had his annual benefit, but he did not think it would draw
much to his side. (A laugh.) But his hon. friend, with
great simplicity and frankness, said that he had tried all
over the house to find somebody who would undertake to
moot this question, and he could find nobody. So much
for his conviction as to the value of the question in the esti-
mation of members in general. Well, then, his hon. friend
said that, although he had a great number of amateur sup-
porters, still every Government responsible for the admini-
stration of affairs was opposed to his motion. That showed,
prima facie, that there must be some value in the objections
that were urged against the motion, (Hear.) But his
hon. friend seemed to him to place the whole thing upon a
wrong foundation; and in his arguments for the ballot he
seemed to forget that which was the vital principle, the
breath of life of the British constitution, namely, public
opinion and public responsibility. (Cheers.) His hon. friend
quoted the opinions of a number of private societies that sat
in buildings for the election of private members. Such
opinions had nothing to do with this matter, and were fo-
reign to the purpose of the argument. Those were private
societies, who had no public responsibility, and who were not
responsible for the election of members. They had merely
to consider who were likely to be pleasant or unpleasant to
have in the club-room. The argument was devoid of any '
applicability whetever. If the hon. member had gone
further and said there were always reporters present to
detail what happened to the newspapers, he might have ad-
vanced something to his purpose. But what was the effect
of the ballot-box upon public opinion? What was public
opinion? It was the avowed opinion of the aggregate
members of a community. Well, according to the ballot,
an elector was not to avow his opinion. His opinion was
to be kept secret, not only on the day of the election, but
all through his life, because, if a man expressed his opinion
to his friends and neighbours, everybody would know when
he went to the ballot-box for whom he voted. The voter
would be obliged to conceal his opinions from his wife ; and
that was a position to put an Englishman in? (Laughter.)
It was clear that sneaking up to the pall with a bit of paper
and putting it into a hole was not secret voting, unless it
was accompanied all the time by an entire suppression of a
man's opinions. Well then, ho said, if they were to divest
a man of the responsibility which belonged to him, and
which he owed to the rest of his countrymen, they would
extinguish the great principle of the British constitution,
and it was therefore unconstitutional and un-English to
vote for the motion of his hon. friend. The hon. member
had spoken of America, but everybody knew that what
was called the ballot in America was not secret voting. The
elector put the paper in his hat, and with the exception, he
believed, of one State, it was no more secret voting than in
this country. The hon. member had also spoken of making
converts; but he could evidence conversions the other
way. There was a society in this town which adopted the
name of the Reform Club, the members of which were sup-
posed to hold advanced opinions. (A laugh.) It was reported
that this society had become a convert to the opinion of his
hon. friend; but, from information ho had received, while
up to a recent time•the election of members was upon the
mode similar in other clubs, they had lately, after dis-
cussion, and upon the advice of the hon. member for
Birmingham—(a laugh)—decided that election by ballot
was not a proper mode of election, and they want further
and invested a select committee with the choice of the
members. (Laughter and cheers.) What were called the
" unanswerable arguments" of his hon. friend had had no
effect upon him, and he trusted the decision of the house
would be what it had been on former occasions. (Cheers.)
Mr. COX (amidst loud cries of " Divide") said the Liberal
party looked upon this question as one of the carlinal points
of their creed, and he asked the house to consider the ques-
tion with that calmness and deliberation to which it was
entitled. (Hear, hear, and Divide, and other manifestations
of impatience.) The principle of voting by voting papers
had for many years been adopted satisfactorily. (Divide,
divide.) When an election took place by ballot the tempta-
tion to bribery was less than by the open system, as the
progress of the election and the state of the poll was kept
longer a secret. (Divide, divide.) Believing that the
ballot was a cure for the evils that at present existed, he
should vote for the motion. (Divide, divide.)
Mr. H. BERKELEY, in reply, combated the opinions
expressed by the noble lord at the head of the Govern-
ment, urging that public opinion would be more influ-
enced by secret than by public voting. He defended the
wives of electors from the imputation that they would
disclose their husbands' secrets in election matters, and
thereby inflict great oppression on them and their fami-
lies. He had a higher opinion of them than some hon.
members appeared to possess. (Hear, hear, and Divide.)
The arguments used by the noble lord had failed to convince
him that the ballot was not wanted.
The house then divided. The numbers were—
For the motion
Against it
Majority —2o
(Cheers.) The motion was consequently lost