The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-10 00:00:00

SIR J. BOW.ltiN'i- ON 7.HE BALLOT. I

At the opening of the winter session of the
Exeter. Discussion. Society on last Thursday, the
president, Sir John Bowring, introduced the follow-
ing subject for discussion :—" Is the Ballot a Secu-
rity for Honest R!presentation ?" •
Sir T. BowaING said, meditating much, as he had
been &tiled on much to meditate, on the various
political changes which had been suggested for tha
general improvement of our institutions, he had
come to the conclusion that there was none so im-
portant, none for which reasons so cogent and irre-
sistible could be urged, none which could derive so
much advantage from observation and experience
as that of the ballot—that instrument by which man
was protected in the honest exercise of that politi-
cal power which his country had confided to his
keeping. He had been long known as a radical re-
former, but by radicalism he would have them
understand that all that he ever meant was, that
true reform which went to the eradication of abuses;
a reform which would obtain the most efficient
government at the least possible charge. When this
question was first mooted by reformers (they were
then called extreme reformers), they were divided
into two sections ; there was first what was called
the physical force radicals, who thought that if by
agreement they could not carry their point they
were justified to have recourse to violence. He
abominated that creed. He felt assured that in a
free country like this, free discussion would triumph,
and that whatever case had sufficient argument
to rest upon must ultimately overcome the ignor-
anes and hostility which was opposed to it. He
belonged to the other, the once small, class, hon-
oured with the name of " Philosophicalliadicals,"
and was connected with a periodical called the
Westminster _Review, which at that time had no
small influence on the public mind. Itwas soon
seen that there was something to be said for radi-
calism, not merely by violent and intemperate per-
sons, but by many powerful, learned, influential,
honest, and virtaous Englishmen, who thought that
the radical changes to which he had referred were
needful for the salvation of the country. (Applause.)
Since that time radicalism had made much progress;
everything. that had been done wisely and well, had
been done in a radical spirit ; that was, whenever
legislation had been wise and efficient, it had re-
moved the soarces of public discontent, and had in-
troduced elements of public peace and satisfaction ;
and in the general tranquillity of the public mind,
and in the little disposition that now existed for in-
temperate discussion, he found results upon which
all of them, as friends of peace and progress, might
congratulate themselves. In regard to some of the
principles which had been put forward as radical
doctrines, he felt the difficulty of.encountering some
of the arguments of their opponents. He would Mike
the question of universal suffrage, and he acknow-
ledged that it would be a most delightful state of
things—if it could be achieved—if every man could
be en trusted with an equal portion of political power;
but he could not feel that there was' great strength
in the argument embodied in the question—" Will
you allow ignorance to control knowledge ?.and un-
til the working. classes are educated will you give
them a predominant power ?" Still, his answer was—
Educate people. Again, in respect of the re- distribtt

tion of seats, he felt that a great deal could be said
against the existing state ofthings, for it seemed most
unreasonable that a hundred men should have more
influence in certain localities than a hundred men
had in another • still the difficulty in redistribution
was this, that ;here was some advantage in small
constituencies having the representation. Again,
in regard to annual Parliaments, it was not desir-
able that men should be long entrusted with poli-
tical power, and it was desirable to have frequent
appeals to public opinion ; but it was fairly replied,
" By annual Parliaments you would get rid of ex •
perienced men just as they had learned the lesson
of Parliamentary duties"—(hear, hear)—and, in-
deed, it took a man better than a twelvemonth to
learn the lesson. Therefore, while they might re-
collect Franklin's opinion that no man should re-
main a representative longer than twelve months,
because it was desirable that his interest should he
made to lie amongst many, and not amongst the
ruling few—yet it might be assumed that such a
measure would probably result in crude legislation.
(Hear, hear.) But with respect to the ballot, he
never heard one argument that was not utterly
worthless as against the position that if society en-
trusted a man with the discharge of a certain duty,
all temptations should be removed from him that
would induce him to betray that trust, and that all
punishment should be averted that menaced him if
he discharged that trust honestly. Secret suffrage
was the machinery by which society provided that
honest votes should be deposited. It was nothing
beyond that. What were the arguments against
the ballot ? They were manifestly ridiculous. It
was said to be un-English. In the first place,
that was a ridiculous outbreak of national vanity,
of which any Englishman should be ashamed,
for Englishmen ,should not talk more of
English habits than he should talk of his own
virtues or excellencies, for they might be sure there
were many good habits which were not English,
and all were not good that were English. It was
once very English to burn witches, and it was now
somewhat English to beat wives. (Applause.) He
came now to the argument that the electoral
power was a trust for which the elector was re-
sponsible to the non-electors, and it was supposed
that the interest of the non-elector somewhat con-
trolled the elector ; but if they meant to let the
opinions of those persons influence the representa-
tion at all, let them have a vote. Be honest. Don't
gag them, but allow them full liberty of giving
their opinions. But the fact was that the 'non-
elector was as much interested in the protection of
the honest voter as was any one in the country.
There were two influences that acted on human
nature—one was hope, in the shape of bribery ;
and the other was terror, is the shape of menace.
Both of these influences were corrupting, and we
must take care that men were neither bribed nor
threatened into doing wrong. Well, the ballot was
the machinery by which bribery should be de-
stroyed and terrorism vanquished ; because, al-
though a candidate might purchase promises, they
might turn out to be worth nothing at all, and he
would not be likely to purchase in so bad a market.
As to the ballot being un-English, he showed that
the aristocracy used it to protect themselves in
their clubs ; that in the late management of the
great East India Empire, the aristocracy who held
the patronage disposed of the appointments by secret
votes ; that the officers who sat on courts-martial
gave their sentence by secret votes ; and the juries
in our civil and criminal courts gave their verdicts
while keeping secret their individual opinions,
which they were bound by oath not to divulge. But
if the subjects of those secret votings were import-
ant, how much more important were the concerns
of the legislation of this !great country—for we
made laws not for England alone, but for two hun-
dred millions of fellow-subjects, and how much
more necessary, therefore, was secret voting for the
protection of electors. (Applause.) At every elec-
tion the Queen's mandate went forth to the consti-
tuencies to make their free choice. " Free " with
open voting ! Free election where the candidate
went down with his purse in one hand to bribe and
corrupt, and with power in the other to frighten
and coerce ! What freedom was that ? It was
utter slavery. He appealed to the experience of
every hearer whether he had not known some honest
man who had in spite of all vindicated his own
opinion, and recorded his honest vote, and had suf-
fered for it. It was said, " Oh, a man ought not to
be ashamed of his opinion." Neither should he be,
nor should he be ashamed of martyrdom. But
would it not be better to have no martyrdom at all
—(applause)—to have no pile to which to drag the
victim ? (Applause.) He had heard of many a jest
used by the torturer towards the tortured, and of
many a witticism by the corrupter at the expense
of some poor wretch bribed or terrified into being
dishonest to his conscience, and giving a vote which
he abhorred. (Applause.) That state of things
ought not to be permitted. He was speaking from
experience. He had gone through seven contested
elections, and could tell them of many instancesto
of corrupt feelings. Once a poor man
him and said that he owed a debt of 255. efoarnidreenhte,
and asked him (Sir John) to assist him,
felt some sympathy for that poor man. _
after saw a wealthy gentleman, who said
(he was
" I have eighty votes at my clom
et He
hsoimon,
a cadetship
master of 80 slaves !)—if you_wistl g:
India Company
for a nephew of mine in the E
(Sir John)
ballotol:n
the 80 votes are yours." 0
did not accept the proposal, showed what
terror,
enr ireonr not
but only
fb
uctoia-lit rosnel ylie
on the other. But of all reforms. d
was the vassalage on one side and wtlhiaatttloife despotism
out of the region of corruption_
was the most specific, for itremaonvde
the ballot a man
could deposit his votpweinhvoting
e with peace and quietness, and
from half
out of that of passion, for with also
the country would be relieved
.of the tur-
bulenceystassociatedof o elections.
was the only
was
wsahidichthwaats
thneows
It was
country that retained
it There was
shardly any
English: he believed that England
. country with representative institutions but had