The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-19 00:00:00

THE BALLOT.

A public meeting was held at the Athenaeum,
Exeter, on last Thursday evening, to promote the
incorporation of the vote by ballot in any Reform
Bill to be brought forward m the next session of
Parliament. In consequence of the inclemency of
the weather the attendance was not numerous.—
Mr. H. Norrington presided.
The CHAIRMAN, in commencing the proceedings,
stated that the question of the ballot was of consi-
derable importance ; for it was necessary that every
man who had been entrusted with a vote should be
protected, and should have the power to deal with
it-as he thought proper. It was of little service to
give a man the right to vote unless he also had the
power to exercise it according to the dictates of
his conscience. After some further remarks of a
practical character, the chairman introduced
E. C. WsrrEr[unsT, Esq., the vice-president of
the Ballot Society, who began his remarks by ad-
verting to the recent speech delivered by Sir 3. C.
Lewis on Parliamentary Reform, and declared that
he complained of three evils at elections—bribery,
intimidation, and too great expense. With regard
to the first of these two evils he quoted extracts
from the West Briton newspaper, showing the in-
fluence which had been exercised by Lady Moles-
worth over the votes of her tenantry, and that Sir
Joseph Sawle had reduced the rents of certain of
his tenants 10 per cent., on condition of their
voting for his favourite candidate at a recent elec-
tion. But Sir Joseph Sawle was not the only
lord who exercised an influence over his tenantry.
The Rev. W. Oliver, a clergyman of the Church of
England, wrote a letter some time ago to Mr. John.
Smith on the subject of the West Kent election, in
which he said, " I hope you are, like myself, a good
Conservative, and will vote for Sir W. Riddle ;
landlord and tenant should always vote on the
same side, and if we go to a new lease this shall be
one of my stipulations !" The lecturer commented
on these cases with considerable ability, and ad-
duced several others of a similar nature to prove
the extensiveness of intimidation and the necessity
for the ballot. On the expensive mode in which
elections were conducted he enlarged on the sums
paid to lawyers in the late elections for Exeter and
the Northern Division of Devon. From a return
published in obedience to an order of the House of
Commons of the declared expenses-L--for or the real
expenses they could know nothing.—at the last ge-
neral election, he found the following sums, under
the head of Exeter, as paid by Mr. Gard :—" Soli-
citors' charges, £4BO. (Laughter.) All that was
`paid, but all that was not enough—(laughter)—
•because Mr. Sanger, solicitor, claimed £52 10s.
That claim was admitted to the extent of £l5 o,
which sum had been tendered to him and refuse;
the remainder of the claim had been objected to.
Well, that was a good deal of money to be spent
at an uncontested election ; and as far as we had
heard no contest for Exeter had ever been dreamt
of. (Hear, hear.) But Exeter, after all, had done
pretty well in that respect, compared with some
other places. North Devon, at that election, shone
in unapproachable lustre on the subject of payments
to lawyers. • (Laughter.) From the same return he
found that the Hon. Mr. Trefuiss, one of the pre-
sent members he believed—(the Chairman—Un-
fortunately he is)—at any rate, he paid very dearly
for his seat, for he paid to 70 canvassing agents,
£743; to 23 solicitors as advocates, £221; to 22
district professional agents' fees and disbursements,
£1,557 ; to Mr. Bremridge—in addition to £l7l
paid out of pocket-1300 as a fee for himself and
clerks in conducting that election; making a total
of £2,000 paid by one candidate to Devonshire
lawyers. (Laughter.) Well, then, Sir Stafford
Northcote, the unsuccessful candidate, paid to 30
canvassing agents, £167 ; to 23 solicitors and clerks,
as advocates and canvassing agents, £438 ; to 18
district professional agents' fees and disbursements,
£1,280 ; to Mr. Daw, election agent, his fee and
payments made by him as such, £604; making
another £2,000 paid into the pockets of lawyers.
(Applause.) Next came Mr. Buller, the Liberal
member for North Devon, but who, misguided man
—(laughter)----voted against the ballot, paid to 34
canvassing agents, £122; to eight solicitors as ad-
vocates, £47 ; to 34 district professional agents'
fees and disbursements, £1,597 ; to Mr. Smith, for
conducting the election, £los—making another
£2,000, and altogether a total of £6,000 paid to
lawyers of North Devon at the last election. (Ap-
plause.) Now, it was said in that ancient and valu-
able book, which their chairman so aptly referred
to, that "in the multitude of counsel there was
safety," but he had heard it said that the meaning
of it was not " legal" counsel. (Much laughter.)
He quite concurred in that interpretation, for if a
candidate at an election had 34 lawyers to ad-
vise him, he would hardly know where he stood.
(Laughter.) But why pay so many ? Electioneer-
nn was after all very simple, and on all the
points of law which might arise in a county elec-
tion one man of ordinary professional experience
could give the candidate all the advice required.
(Hear, hear.) But lawyers knew how to turn the
election screw—(hear, hear)—and to do them credit
they turned it as mercilessly as they did it effec-
tively. (Hear, hear.) If he wished to represent a
town, and he was enabled to retain the majority of
the lawyers, he cared not whether his opinions were
liked by the constituency or not ; he would be the
member—(hear, hear)—for the lawyers knew where
title deeds were at home—(hear, hear)—who was
on the wrong side at the bankers or the merchants,
and who had had a small strip of parchment from
London—(laughter)—and that was why enormous
sums had been paid to these lawyers. (Hear, hear.)
Passing from this subject the talented lecturer
clearly explained and pointed out from a neatly
executed painting, the mode of workinc, the ballot
as adopted in some of our Australian colonies ; and
went on to reply to a pamphlet which had appeared
on the subject of the ballot since his last visit to
this city. Now he should be extremely happy to
announce to the meeting who the writer of that
pamphlet was, but unfortunately he laboured under
this disadvantage, that the sworn foe of secresy and
the great advoeite of publicity had chosen to pub-
lish his pamphlet anonymously. (Laughter.) He
had assumed the name of " Scrutator," but looking
at what he said " Screw-turner" would be a more
appropriate name. (Laughter.) But however that
might be—and he did not wish to wrest him from
that secresy which he very properly sought—he
must call their attention to some of his remarks.
Having selected from the pamphlet a passage on the
responsibility of the voter, and one showing that
the friends of the ballot were increasing in number
and importance, the lecturer read the following
quotation :—" There are also those who would try
to establish an analogy between its practice in clubs
and in parliamentary elections ; as if the merely
personal and social construction of these societies
bore any resemblance to national and political mat-
ters." Of course they did not, but the use of the
ballot stood on the same principles in both cases.
(Hear, hear.) For instance, if it were a cowardly
thing for a man to refuse to vote for a particular
candidate, because the giving of his vote might be
attended with absolute ruin to himself and family,
it was equally unmanly to drop the black ball
into a box to exclude a man from a club. (Hear,
hear.) With reference to a sentence in the pamphlet,
that bribery might prevail at elections under the
ballot system, the lecturer showed that such could
not be the case, for the briber could not depend on
bribing the right man, and there would be so many
facilities for detecting bribcry,should it be attempted,
that the candidale, though he might have the dis-
position, would not think it safe to make the
experiment. It was not necessary to prove, in a
case of bribery, that a vote had been given for
money ; because the act declared that either giving
or offering money for a vote was enough to consti-
tute bribery and set aside the election.. The
pamphlet went on to say—" If the subject were not
too serious to admit of joking, we might dilate on
the ridiculous idea of a Briton, who boasts, Bri-
tannia rules the waves,' that the sun never sets
upon the British dominions,' of the heroes of Alma
and Inkerman,' and what not. That this Briton
should be afraid of shouting at the polling booths,
I vote for Snooks,' but must sneak like a pick-
pocket or a petty larcener of broken victuals, alone
into a room, and drop his card into the ballot box,
for fear My Lord should frown—Sir Thomas refuse
to shake hands—or their ladies buy their gloves or
figs at their neighbour's shop instead of his own."
That man who wrote that did not know what it was
in this country and in the times in which we live,
to be exposed as a working man, or a tradesman, to
all the disadvantages of fierce competition, or over-
bearing taxation. (Hear, hear.) If he did he would
know that it was not so easy a matter to make up
a customer after he had lost him. (Hear, hear.) If
he knew anything of the people of this country he
would know that it was all very well for those men
wcfood, hi
Charles
fare sumptuously every day" to preach these
referred hi
a letter written by the late
.Sir CmhatroleasnNaepxt
doctrines,eu sp haden but
beenhe
which Napier.
tsiinr
hea
saidcrsiderable time without
would put Sir CharlesN
he would sell his vote,
(Laughter.) He (the lecturer)
even to the devil.
(Hear, thatother ppaanisspahgleest
'from the
Napier against the author of
e) After quoting
pamphlet the lecturer read
the following :—" In all Jfreustmice
all our public acts and deliberations;----f.
Councils of the Sovereign 'thine
and the High Court of
Ministers
of to the parish vestry, among
of State, Senators, Judges, Magistrates,
Councillors, Boards of Guardians, and parishionersown
in vestry assembled—open voting prevails as the
universal practice." Here was another mistake.
All our courts of justice were not open to the pub-
lic. (Hear, hear.) Courts-martial, which exer-
cised a power over the lives and liberties of some
of her Majesty's oubjecte) were not open courts,