The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-16

inquiry, suspicion, precaution, scrutiny; and
these involve delay and loss of time to the
voter. Take every ballot that is offered with
out hesitation or question, and you can re-
ceive one thousand votes at poll without
difficulty. and no one need be delayed fifteen
minutes; but, if you undertake to confine the
voting to legal voters you must afford time
for sitting pretensions and establishing rights
either at the poll or previously. We believe
no other device can be substituted for regis
tration of voters, with reasonable time for
scrutiny between the close of the registry and
the opening of the polls, that will prove
equally efficient without being far more in
convenient and troublesome.
But we have no plan to suggest, no expert
ment that we want to see tried. The respon-
sibility is now with our political adversaries.
and we shall rejoice to ind them meeting it
honestly and manfully. Frankly, however,
we do not believe they will do anything of
the sort. They know that the thieves.
swindlers, and grog-shop loafers, who take to
illegal voting as a duck takes to water. are
naturally Democrats; and they know that
whenever twenty five thousand illegal votes
are cast at an election, these cannot fail to
add at least twenty thousand to the Demo.
cratic majority; and they are not inclined to
forego the advantage thus proffered. Some
of them will, while others will not. instigate
and pay for illegal voting; but the mass of
those who will not are apt to chuckle over
the net result as heartily as the rest. So
what we expect is that they will repeal the
Registry law and enact in its stead something
that will in practice amount exactly to nothing
MIR. A. }. II. Duganne is more hopeful or
more spooney. He thinks the Democrats
only want to be shown how, and they will
proceed at once to throw all requisite safe
guards around the ballot-box. SO he proceeds
to instruct them as follows
|. He would double the number of election
districts in our city, making them 700 instead
of 33i, so as to reduce the voters in each dis
trict to about POO.
>. He would provide in each district "a
suitable polling-place in the form of a booth,
shed, OF other shelter, either portable or per-
manent, constructed purposely for the ac-
comm odatlon of 2e0 voters, and located as
nearly as might be in the centre of the voting
population of the district said polling-place
to be an iron structure. located on a square or
street-crossing, to resemble palace or other
passenger car, and to be taken to pieces and
carted off to some corporation yard or other
depository after the counting of the votes
shall have been completed.
3. He would have the vote taken in these
polling booths within two specified and
advertised hours of each election day, as fol-
lows:--
"Let it be understood First. That before a fixed
hour (say 10 A. NJ the voters Of each district must
have presented themselves at the door OF their poll
ing-place and entered giving their names and resi-
dences to a clerk at the door. Second Let IL be
ordered that at the minute of the clock striking 10
A. M. Or that hour be agree upon, the entrance
doors OF all the pollingplaces in all the election dis
trcts OF the city shall be closed, and that they be
Kept closed the balloting to begin by calling the
registered names OF voters from the pofl-ist IN the
manner that yeas and nays taken in legislative
bodies; each voter answering TO his name, tender
ing his ballot, and, If unchallengod, deposting it,
and then leaving the polls 10y door opposite to the
closed entrance-door. The name and residence OF
every voter being thus called, in the presence OF all
the voters of the election district he may he chal-
lenged, for cause, under suitable regulations pro-
vided by law or, his vote being given, it is checked
at once, as received, against his name upon the poll
list Having voted and passed out OF the eXit-doOr
voter return until the ball0ting shall hc
pleted, when the door will be opened for public wit
ness OF the canvass Of ballots.
This plan would certainly bother ''re-
peaters; wherefore it will never be adopted
by legislature whereof William NJ. Tweed
is master-spirit. Yet it has merits, and
possibly may receive consideration at some
future day. For the present we are at the
mercy of politicians who believe in voting
early and voting often, and will legislate ac.
cordingly.