The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-03 00:00:00

MR. DANA AND THE BALLOT.

The following letters have been published :
Sir,—Quite unexpectedly, and from an unexpected
quarter, the enemies of the ballot have had their
cause strengthened—so, at least, they imagine. A
Mr. Dana has written a long letter from Massachu-
setts, to the effect that ballot voting in that state is
open to much the same objections as registration
voting is in England ; that in fact ballot voting
falls short of the wishes and expectations of its
friends, and from necessity must be conducted in a
way which gives the rich and influential the privilege
to bribe or influence the dependant and poor. In
a word, it is alleged, the ballot-box and ballots not-
withstanding, that no popular means can be devised
whereby men can vote according to their conscience
and be inaccessible to intimidation or bribery from

others.
Unfortunately for Mr. Dana's experience in Mas•
sachusetts and for Mr. Dana's friends in England
there are other states in the American union where
ballot voting"works admirably and satisfactorily,
and where what is said to be unattainable in Mas-
sachusetts is an accomp'ished fact. Take the State
of Illonois, and what is true of that State is true of
the States contiguous to it, namely, Missouri, Wis-
consin, lowa, and Minnesota, and perhaps every
other State within the Union. In Illinois the voter
is protected. Every man in that State, entitled to
vote, may vote according to his conscience, and
without the miserable expedient of an envelope,
which Mr. Dana says was tried in Massachusetts
and has failed. The means are simple. The man
voting is momentarily separated from the men
waiting to vote or merely looking on, and while so
separated, the voter may vote for who or what he
pleases, or he may not vote at all, although he has
passed through the polling place. Is it possible to
buy such a man ; or where is the man who would
risk a penny on the chance of a voter so cir-
cumstanced voting against himself? But it will
be answered, this is horribly secret, and would not
suit Englishmen, who must be above-board always.
It does look quite as bad as Massachusetts' en-
velopes, but it really is not so, and contra-
diction may be safely challenged to the fact
that the Illinois system is more open, more above•
board,-than our own registration system is. The
political and party creed of every man in Illinois
is known ; what secrecy, then, can possibly attach
to the act of putting votes in the ballot-box ? Is
it known in England which side a man will take,
unless he really takes a side, and does vote, and how
few in England vote who have the right to do so ?
While in Illinois the merest hodman stands cheer-
fully 'for hours in winter storm and summer heat
to take his turn to drop his ballot, and workshop
and barber's chair are for ever resonant with the
tongue of party ? What need of its being other-
wise ? The Illinois ballot-box knows no landlord
and no master, and Illinois landlords and masters
bend in meek submission to their fate, and party
ties cannot, therefore, be either bar or prejudice to
any one. Why is it otherwise in Massachusetts ?
Why is the ballot-box in Massachusetts not as in-
violate as the ballot-box in Illinois ? There is no
hesitation and no mystery in the answer. Massa-
chusetts is more exclusive and more intolerant than
even England is. It is a punishable offence to
smoke tobacco in the streets of Boston ; a matter of
grave import to drop an orange skin. The Massa-
chusetts statutes book provides against adultery
and fornication by a year or two of penal servi-
tude. Is it incompatible with such laws that the
wise should check and direct the unwise, that the
rich should control the dependant and the poor ?
Is it incompatible with such laws that the Massa-
chusetts ballot-box should be placed in an open
hall, that the workman should put in his ballot in
the presence of his master, and the tenant put in
his ballot in the presence of his landlord ? The
idea of any other usage is absurd ; and such, in
reality, is the ballot-voting system of Massachu-
setts. There the franchise, as in England, is the
curse of many ; end there the prospect of a better
system is much more remote than the prospect is
with us.
Massachusetts is really the odd state of the
American Union, and, therefore, unfit to represent
American institutions in any way. Turning to the
election returns of that State and others at the last
Presidential canvass, Massachusetts stands quite
alone in the specialty of its returns. The repub•
lican vote of Massachusetts was as three to one
against the democratic vote, while the republican
vote of New York State was only a fraction
over; and that of Pennsylvania leaned largely on
the democratic side. In fact, while in other States
political parties are split into large and often into
equal sections, there is but one great towering
party in the State of Massachusetts. In the legis-
lature of Massachusetts there are 32 republicans
and three democrats ; while in the New York
legislature there are 61 republicans and 58 demo-
crats, and in the legislature of Pennsylvania 30
republicans and 68 democrats. Thus one great
party lords it over Massachusetts, and it has done
so from immemorial time ; and the great means of
doing so is unprotected ballot voting. The people
of Massachusetts are of the same stock as are the