The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-30 00:00:00

Mr. Baines and Education.

Mr. Baines has written to the Daily Telegraph on
the subject of the Governiaent Education Bill. He
is anxious to avoid any misunderstanding
with respect to the opin,ions of the. Liberal and Non-

conformist members who waited on Mr. Gladstone.
He declares that they are unanimously of opinion
that the best arrangement for the rate-supported
schools will be to have the Bible read and taught by
the master, but to forbid the use of creeds and cate-
chisms, and all denominational teaching. Such a
school, it is considered, would meet the views of th e
majority of Churchmen and Dissenters.
The Elections.

The fight in South Leicestershire is going on very
actively, and according to all preeedelit, a very close
fight it is likely to be. •Mr. Pagetithe Liberal candi-
date, is not very partial to the Ballot. He
prefers the light to the dark ; but if landlords
will persist in applying the screw, why there is no
help for it. Mr. Paget would prefer education being
paid for out of a local rate. In the Isle of Wight it
would seem that Mr. Baillie Cochrane does not like
the prospect. The Liberals proved some 220 stronger
at the last election, and it would appear that the
present Conservative candidate is not so sure of re-
versing this decision as to be willing to incur the
expense of a contest.

The Ballot at Bristol— -.

The moral of the Bristol election petition ought
not to be overlooked. The judge has decided, and
there can be no question as to the fact, that the
test ballot at Bristol was accompanied by bribery
and treating sufficient, had it taken place
in connection with the election itself, to make
it void. Whether it is not now a void election his
lordship has left for the decision of the Court of
Common Pleas. Thus it is clear that the Ballot will
not necessarily put a stop at once to corruption. Of
course it does not by any means follow that what
has taken place at Bristol in a non-official
polling will occur at ballots generally ; it
may nappen, as the advocates of secret voting say it
will, that bribers will want to be surer than they can
be with the Ballot that their money has not been
thrown away. The fact, however, remains that the
Ballot on a large scale has been tried only twice in
England; and on the second occasion it was accom-
panied by some of the very corrupt practices it was
intended to suppress. On the other hand it should
be noted that the primary object of the Ballot is to
prevent not bribery, but intimidation.
The Orangemen and the Ballot.

The times being dull, and few exciting questions
in the way, the Orangemen of Ulster are filling up
their spare time with a campaign against the
Ballot. The hostility against this innovation is
becoming quite furious. Yet it is not easy to tell
why. The Ballot is not much in the way of Orange-
men. It seems, however that one of the brethren
at a late meeting declared that Orangemen had little
left to fight for; and hence, it may be presumed,
the large amount of fight left in them may
just as well be expended upon the Ballot. It
is an insidious trap. Slinking behind backs
with their otes is what the Orangemen will never
be guilty of. Their hostility to Romanism, Ritual-
ism, and Rationalism is undying, and it is in future
to show itself politically as well as religiously. ,