The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-20 00:00:00

THE BALLOT IN AUSTRALIA,

(Front the Examiner.)
We published last week the secret-suffrage clauses
of the electoral law of the colony of Victoria, printed
in accordance with an address of the late House of
Commons. The history of the introduction of the
vote by ballot into Victoria is briefly this. The co-
looy in 1855 obtained a new constitution from the
Imperial Parliament establishing two houses ot leg-
islature, both elective, and a responsible ministry.
The then existing legislative body, called the
Legislative Council, only partly elective, was
charged with the preparation of an electoral law, to
constitute the electoral body, and regulate the mode
of holding elections. The electoral law, introduced
by the existing colonial ministry, proposed to esta-
blish open voting, as practised in the mother coun-
try. e, leading member of the Legislative Council,
Mr. Nicholson, a man of great intelligence and
energy, who had filled several important posts in
the colony, made a counter-propedtion in favour of
the ballot, The ministry resisted, were defeated in
the council, and resigned office. Mr. Nicholson was
celled to form a government, but declined, in con-
sequence of his intention to visit Engle'''. The
old government resumed their places, but perse-
vered in resisting the ballot, disputing the point
inch by inch with the opposition, who were, how-
ever, not to be outdone in vigour and determina-
tion. Mr. Nicholson proposed the necessary clauses
in the electoral law, and carried them by still larger
majorities than that which had originally sanc-
tioned the principle. In the debate on the third
reading, the Attorney-General of Victoria croaked
the most awful warnings of the ruin which secret
voting was sure to bring down ut,- on the devoted
colony. No Attorney-Gene.al at Westminster
could have performed the raven's part more ad-
mirably. The ballot was folly, the ballot was
revolution, the ballot was un-Australian, and the
immediate setting •of the Victoria sun, never
again to rise, was 'predicted in a most lachrymose
strain of a colonial crown lawyer, mimicking Eldon
at the Antipodes.
It is only just, however, to the Diabolus Regis of
the other hemisphere to add, that. his afterwards
publicly recanted some of his strongest objections,
seen to be untenable by the light of experienCe.
Mr. Nicho!son, who is still in England, bas been
welcomed, as he well dest)rved to be, by Parlia-
mentary reformers in every part of the country.
Several public entertainments have been given to
him, and he has availed himself of these and other
opportunites to relate the history of the move-
ment which he led with so much spirit, and brought
to so triumphant a close.
Example is of immense weight in the business of
the world, and that of one of our greatest and most
flourishing colonies seizing the earliest opportunity
of applying the principles of plain common sense to
the problem of securing the genuineness of the
elective franchise, will not be lost on the people of
England. How often have we not heard the parrot
cry that there is something in the Atiglo-Saxon
race that revolts with shuddering from the notion
of voting in secret ? Well, here is an Anglo-Saxon
community, and a vigorous specimen of one, which
has revolted most conspicuously in the opposite
direction. Let us hear no more, therefore, of the
Anglo-Saxon argument against the ballot. Vic-
toria has knocked it in the head, and after full
experience of the evils of the open poll, for it was
the experience of those evils that called the ballot
party into exist,eice, and supplied Mr. Nicholson
and his friends with the artillery of argument that
carried the day.
Again, how many times have we not heard it re-
iterated that it was beyond the mechanical inge-
nuity of man in any part of the world to devise a
machinery for the conduct of an election on the plan
of secrecy. Mr. Nicholson's answer is very short.
" We have done it in Australia," and he has told
the British public what the process is.
" The mode he said was a very simple one. There was
returning officer foradistrict, and he held a nomination
the same as was the custom in England. Supposing r.
poll was demanded, it opened at 9 o'clock in the morning
and closed at 4in the afternoon. The voting was by ballot
papers furnished by the returning officer, who t'ok with
him to the booth the electoral roll, and a number of ballot
papers, containing the names of the candidates. In apish-
kis room each elector came up to vote, and might bequest
tinned by any one, this being done withl the view of avoid-
ing the possibility of personation. As soon as an elector's
identity and right to vote bad been established,
be was handed a ballot-paper, and then passed
into a private room, where he was required
to mark out the names of the candidates he
did not vote for, and then to fold up and place the
ballot-paper in the ballot-box. He was then pa eel out
by another door. The mode of voting was secret in this
way ; no one had an opportunity of knowing, what
names he had marked out, or what parties he had voted
for or against. In a large cenrikuenoy, such as Mel-
bourne, with 8,500 elector', they had various election
booths, and in these rooms are sub-divisions over which
are the letters indicating where individuals must record
their votes. After a person came out of a ballot-room he
could say how he had voted, but he had it not in his
power to show how he had voted. He was perfectly free
in this respect, therefore, from all influence."
Corruptly tampering with the box appears to be
most effectually guarded against; another thing
stated ten thousand times to be beyond the reach of
human wit.
" One great evil suggested against the ballot was,
that the returning officer might tamper with the ballot-
box; but, in Victoria, each candidate was allowed
nominate a scrutineer, who sat by the returning officer
during the whole proceedings, and until the poll was
closed. It was impossible for a returning officer to suc-
ceed in tampering with the box with such a scrutiny as
that. Each scrutineer has the opportunity of seeing the
b..110t-box before it is locked up, and placed for the re-
ception of votes and at the close of the poll to see the
votes counted. In the elections in Victoria there were
some close contests ; in one large district the successful
candidate was returned by a majority of twelve, in
another by a majority of one, and in another by the cast-
ing vote of the returning officer, but never bad a return.
ing officer been charged with making a false return.
Another check upon the returning officer was, that the
returning officer when he delivered a ballot paper signed
his name to it, so that, to be any imposition, they must
very successfully forge the name of the returning officer."
Although so recently established, it is to be ob-
served that already the ballot hai ceased in Victoria
to be a theory. It has be- n tried, and has given
unmixed satisfaction to the public. Of course the
experience of its advantages is brief, but what more
was it ever possible to say for 'he wisest and most
valuable of human institutions, in the first days of
their working, than that to Vie extent of their
working their efficiency was proved ? We subjoin a
few testimonials borne by the Australian journals
to the satisfactory operation of the ballot in the first
elections held under the new law. Vic give them as
we find them in one of Mr. Nicholson's speeches,
beginning with the evidence of the Melbourne
Herald :
" At the date of our last summary, the Upper House
elections were pending, and the utmost public interest
was excited as to the result. Thu polling for the Central
Prevince (Melbourne and suburban districts) came off
on the 26th ult., when the 'ballot was tested for the first
time in the colony, and operated in a manner which not
only satisfied the expectations of its meet sanguine ad-
vocates, but actually won over as converts some of those
who were previously its most determined opponents,
both in and out of the Legi,lature."
His next extract would be from the Argus, this
and the Herald being the two leading papers. It
had reference to the election for St. Kilda :
'efa The polling for the two representatives to serve this
district in the Legislative Assembly took place yester-
day, and passed off with the most exemplary good order
and quiet ; indeed, with the exception of all the dead
walls in the neighbourhood being covered with placards
in all the colours of the rainbow, a stranger in the dis-
trict accustomed to election scenes in the old country
would have exhibited some amount of incredulity on
being told that an active election contest was proceeding.
Not a single complaint against the working of the ballot
or of any underhand or unfair practices reached our ear
during our visits to the polling places. The amount of
' excitement which prevailed during the day was anything
but active, so far as we could observe by the collection ot
persons about the booths; but at the close of the;poll
considerable interest was manifested in the result."
The returning officer for St. Kilda was strongly
opposed to the ballot, but he stated (as recorded in
the Argus) on declaring -the poll :
" The returning officer said he thanked the meeting
for their kindness, and in doing so could not help bear-
leg ttstanony to the favourable working (~f the ballot,
although opposed to it in principle himself. His assistant
officers joined with him in asserting that during the pro-
ce,s of election, especially in the Windsor district, there
had often been le- a noise in a polling booth than in a
place of worship. That proved the strict propriety of the
proceedings."
Mr. Nicholrou considered the testimony of Mr.
the returning officer in this instance, as
of great value, as it shows that, although a consis-
tent opposer of the ballot, his practical experience
as returning officer compelled him to acknowledge
its success:-- '

The Melbourne Age, in speaking of the Geelong
election, F,tatecl
"The 44110 t on this occasion has shown what a safety valve it if to the people. Mr. Sladen, in his address, had
the effrolitery to say that the voluntaries were in the mi-
nority, 'out this shows his ignorance of public opinion,
which 'the ballot on this occasion bas proved. The bal-
lot bar; saved many a man from having a mortgage fore-
closed upon him, as was the ease under the old system,
where a man exercised his own free will."
lis to the Geelong election, the Geelong Observer
say

1' The ballot saves the people from much of the an-
nclance they would have suffered under the old regime.
When party malice and individual rancour have done
their work, the ballot affords a few minutes for calm re-
flection, and in that few minutes, honesty, capacity, use-
-fulness, and character will have the victory, and, after
all, the chances are in favour of the best men."
He then read from the Ballarat Examiner, Sept.
15, 1856

"The election for the western province.—As far as

(From the Examiner.)
The massacres of the first revolution, and the
wars of Napoleon, may sufficiently account for
the diminution of the French population up to a
recent date, but a new cause is now in operation,
tending powerfully to the same result. The old
frugality of the French has been banished by the
present regime, and luxury and extravagance are
now the prevailing habits. Saving and hoarding
are at an end, and people live up to their means,
if not beyond their means. In Paris the immense
increase of handsome equipages must strike every
eye, and the other signs of enlarged expenditure
are abundant. Women, who play so prominent
and important a part in the affairs of
France, have of course taken the lead in this
new fashion of extravagance, and many of them do
not think it unreasonable to devote a third of their
husbands' income to their own toilettes. And this
is not confined to Paris, it runs through the whole
country, and every provincial town is a Paris in
miniature iu the features of a new luxury and ex-
travagance. And the freer indulgence in every sort
of enjoyment is concurrent with an universal aug-
mehted cost of living. A French authority, who has
writ' en on thesubject of the high house-rentsof Paris,
attribu'es that enhancement not to the demolition
of old buildings, but to the new habits of expen-e
which have sprung up within the last few years.
And if t his be the fact in Paris, it will also account
f I. the advance of pikes throughout the provinces.
The subdivision of property, whatever may be its
meri,s in other respects, lends its aid to the gene-
ral propensity for extravagance. A young man,
a younger brother, gets his little share of pro-
perty, and launches at once into the pleasure it
may place within his reach. He goes up to Paris
with a few hundred or thousand francs, and
spends his capital as if it were an income. He
is asked after by some one who has met him in
better days, and the stereotyped answer is—He
has disappeared. There are oubliettes in society
for these prodigals. some find their way to
Africa, where they carry muskets ; some to the
jail ; some to the bottom of the Seine. None
recover by industry the footing lost by extra-
vagance. Families do not generally run the road
to ruin so fast. They follow the fashion of ex-
pense by living fully up to their incomes, and
the husband endeavours to extend the means of
enjoyment by a litle gambling, under the com-
mercial name of speculation. One prudence only
is observable, and that is in avoiding the charges
incidental to a number of children. The saying
so common in England, "where Heaven sends
mouths it sends meat," is unknown in France,
and the number of mouths to be fed is adjusted
stilot!y to the means of feeding them. A h%s-
band and wife have one or two children, or none
at all, as the Times observes, according to their
ideas of what they can afford. Of course, then,
in proportion to the enlarged expenditure for
objects of luxury and show is the circumscribed
space for the nursery. The stables cut into it,
the coach-house cuts into it, above all, Ma-
dame's toilette. Where you would see with
English habits half-a-dozen healthy boys and
girls walking with their parents, you see instead,
in the Bois de, Boulogne, a flue lady in a hand-
some open carriage. The horses, the coachman,
the footman, are in lieu of the children. Every-
thing cannot be afforded. A choice must be made,
and we see what it is. The preferred issue of the
French couple are their own favourite pleasures,
dress, equipages, good living, gambling. Children
would narrow the means fur these enjoyments, or
leave for them no means whatever ; theref TO chil-
dren are not born to curtail their parents' pleasures.
And the want of them is not felt where all is given
to the gratification of vanity and the senses. The
drawing-roeme the dining-room, the promenade,
and the theatre fill every moment and satisfy every
wish ; or it is only when these things stale and pall
that a desire arises for the new play-thing of a boy
or a gill. Of couree there are exceptions to these
habits, and here and there will be found families
with domestic enjoyments, but the number of them
has boon much diminished by the order or disorder
of extravagance so countenanced and encouraged
by the present dynas,y. The evil is not confined
to the wealthy classes ; it descends through all
classes with the modification of circumstances. The
shopkeeper and his wile, the artisan and his wife,
are all for the vanities and enjoyments within their
reach, as muchas the millionnaire and his wife. The
occupation for the thoughts which politics once pro-
vided being gone, the general pursuit now is plea-
sure, and the means of obtaining it, by hook or by
crook, generally on the miry field of the bourse.
In such a state of things there must be a tendency
to every sort of degeneracy, moral and physical,