The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-10-13
The Convention-The Ballot.


of voting. They are in favor of the viva voce
method, and hostile to the ballot, on the ground
that man has right to know how his neigh
bors vote, and that it is more manly to vote
openly than to deposit printed ticket in the
ballot-box.
IL there is one thing which Kentuckians, we
mean your genuine, honest, old-fashioned Ken
tuckians, not your counterfeit men who now
infest the commonwealth, feel peculiar pride in,
it is their candor and boldness. Our citizens
are brave in battle and they are bold in the ex-
preston of their opinions-that is 10 say, geHU-
inc Kentuckians are. But now IL is assumed
that il you permit men to vote by ballot, they
uiH UOte as they dare not talk! Yes, it is posi-
lively assumed that Kentuckians are such ar
rant towards that If you permit them to use the
ballot, they will vote against the men in favor
Of whom they talk. If greater insult than is
here implied can be offered true-hearted Ken
tuckian, we should like to hear il.
Are Kentuckisns, after all their long and ha-
bitual boastings, afraid to ayow their senti-
ments1 They who sustain the present system
Of voting assume that they are too cowardly to
vote as they wish TO do, therefore the viva voce
system must be sustained, in order to force Ken.
tuckisns to vote against their inclinations and
convictions. What is TO become Of all our as
sumed superior manliness, after a Kentucky
Convention shall resolve that the ballot is un.
wise, because it will enable men to vote as they
wish to vote, whereas under the present system
they are forced to vote against their wishes from
fear of their neighbors7
We hold that if the slaveholders' argument in
favor Of the viva voce system Of voting is well
founded, it affords an irresistible reason why
the ballot should supplant the present method.
The right Of suffrage is the most important
right which men derive from republican gov
ernments. The very theory of republican gov
eminent suPpOses that such right should be ex-
ercised free from fear or favor. Ifeny system
for the exercise Of that right be proposed which
interferes with the freedom of the voter it is at
war with the theory Of republicanism and what
should be the true practice under a republican
government. To unduly influence voters has
always been denounced as a most arbitrary ex-
ercise Of power on the part of those exerting
such influence, or as proof of the compatibility
Of the voter. No true-hearted American citi-
zen, no true and earnest democrat would IN
willingly interfere between a citizen and his
rights at the ballot-box. II voter wish 10 vote
for a certain candidate, on the ground that such
candidate represents a cause which the voter
holds dear, then any one who comes forward
and interposes his influence in such manner
as to paralyze the freedom of the voter, commits
an atrocity in the estimation of every genuine
democrat, and is guilty of doing what the world
over is denounced a despotic act. The cor
ruption Of the elective franchise is what legis-
iatOrs are called on in a most emphatic manner
to protect the State from. If our present sys-
tenn Of voting necessarily tends to the promo
ton Of corruption, and if under it the will Of
freemen is Psralyzed by the fear of those who
exert an undue influence over them, it is the
manifest duty of legislators to abolish that sys-
TEN, however time honored, and to adopt ano-
Their against which no such objections can so
fOrcibly apply.
Notwithstanding true Democracy requires
that citizens shall vote they wish to vote, yet
IL is unblushingly asserted that voters ought not
to exercise the right of suffrage only under the
surveillance of those who, by accident, have
influence over them! A more monstrous po.
lltical position can not be assumed in a Demo-
cratic county, and yet il is confidently asserted
by those who are in the daily habit Of holding
Intercourse with members Of the convention,
that a large majority Of those members are so
hostile to Democracy as to oppose the only
method Of exercising the right of suffrage by
which the honest poor man can vote his will
without being overawed by some tyrannical
neighbor, from whom he is in the habit of
1rawing portion of his sustanance In return |
Tor labor.
he only reason why preference is now ex-
dressed for the present system Of voting, is that
inder il a rich man can cause a poor neighbor
% vote against his own conscience, and convlc-
ion Of dutyl Reduced TO its simplest form of
IMPRESSION, this lie exactly what the pro slavery
men in the convention now, insist on. Poor
nen ought not to be permitted to vote unless
ne keen and vigilent eye Of their neighbors,
Who is a lordly proprietor can see their votes.
$ there an honest Democratic heart in the
Convention, which does not red
en- with hot Indignation at the tyrannical
round occupied by those men who refuse to
'ermit honest poor men to vote In accordance
With their wiII1
The pro slavery men in the Convention dare
ot let the public know the reason why they
pPose the ballot. The true reason is that they
'ish TO buy Uotes whenever an emergency hap
sns. They have much to say of the candOr ,
nd free speech Of Kentuckians, and yet they :
re afraid TO speak out the true reason why they ,
re in fear of perpetuating the viva voce system
{ voting. 1t is assumed that whenever the
1stem of slavery may be in danger, the slave :
Oldes can, by liberal expenditure Of money
ribe enough Emancipationists of easy virtue,
secure the success Of the slavery candidates
nd the permanence Of the evils of slsvery.-
cry few Shareholders are willing TO trnst the
over Of the State, untrammelled in the hands C
the people. They must exercise a despotic '
urveiIlance over the votes Of their fellow Cit. n
ems in order that slavery may be secnred.- {
hey feel that such Is the intrinsic weak ness of t
avery, and 30 Palpsble are the countless evils p
the wretched system, that If the sentiment of n
le commonwealth lie permitted to have its S
ne action on the accused institution, it will a
gradually undermined and eventually over g
lrown.
Weneed not here examine the position which "
a. been so boldly announced by the slavery o
avocstes, namely, that a man has a right to a
now how his neighbor votes. The absurdity b
THIS position is so manifest that blind man o
IN see IL Nv neighho, n a.. ;,., -. - -. q,