Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1871-02-11
WHOLE NUMBER llO9 n

tie country ayOid politics as thmgs of
evil. They turn away frcm them as itom
pool Of corruption aud iniquity. They
cannot afEOrd TO sacrifice their selfrespect
fnr the emoluments or the hopors Of the
Office. They cannot resort TO the means
necessary To secure an eectiop, And all
this contention aud commotion, all this
tricksry aud dishonesty results, in secure
ing representation, such as il is, To- one,
half the people, ... ..tt mi oti
Now l believe, the great danger to our
institutions, the great danger TO the per-
petnlty OF our Cover nment, in fraud and
corruption at the ballot bog. Here are
the seeds oil destruction and death. No
representative government can lona
endure, unless the ballot is guarded and
protected, SO as TO insure absolute purity
For, what does it avail, if the Vote Of
the honest eleetor, is to be sienced, and
] made void, by the vote of a repeater or
hctitlons person But who pretends, at
this day, that al honest vote is secured 2
Who docs not know, and who will not
confess, that the result of elections, in
entire districts and States is changed by
unlawful voting in the great cities :?
When the ballot box becomes tarce,
when it becomes the pliable intrument Of
designing and unscrupuous men, is it
not time that We were looking to see how
our laws are made aud who make them !
To my mind the future is full of doubt
and uncertainty. If corruption can stalk
abroad i'll the land, unrebuked and un-
controlled, if the political influence of
the honest elector, is 10 be made null
and void, by fraud and deception, then,
indeed is our country shipwrecked and
tie great right of self government lost,
| look into the future with apprehension,
l see our country az wide as continent,
containing population of millions upon
millions Of free men, with diversity OF
interests, opinions aud feelings as wide
as our Uroad domain, / see The great
west and the Pacific slope, the east with
her accumulated wealth and refinement,
the south with her fertile valleys and
majestic rivers, and the north with her
unbounded resources, each large enough,
and with population sufficient Tor great
kingdom, and what is TO unite in one
vast whole this mighty multitude? What
Is to be the golden cord of union and
syspathy strong enough to bind the east
to the west, the north to the south ?
What is TO give contentmeDt to the vast
minority that must submit TO the will of
tue majority What is to allay the
anger of party strife, what to heel the
wounds of disappointed ambition, what
is to prevent the jealousy of different
sections, aud more than all, what is to
prevent frauds and corruption and there =
by preserve the ballot pure and pndefiledP
My answer is that absolute and exact
Justice must be the remedy. Destroy
the temptation to corruption, fraud and
perjury and these evils will vanish.
Representation co-eXtension with all the
people, and all their varied interests.
must be secured end maintained. This
will give contentment. The people will
feel secure and happy, when they know
they have representative to speak for
them and their interests The cumpla.
tive vote secures this. 1t leaves no sec.
tlon or interest unrepresented. 1t leaves
no discontented minority shut out, of
Congress or the Legislature. believe
this vote would reform politics. 1t
would intuse morality into the whole
political fabric. 1t would take away all
inducements to fraud and corruption.
1t would enable every elector to feel that
j. vote is counted, and that he was
VJting for man who would certainly
be elected. 1t would take away the feel
ing OF eXultation over victory, and it
would remove the sting of defeat, for
both parties would be victorious, in the
fact, that both would secure their repre,
sentation. Would men take the chances
OF the penltentiary by FRAUDULENT voting
If they were TO accomplish nothing by
1t ? Would the naturalization manu-
flcturies go into operation, if in spite of
all they could do, the majority and the
minority alike were sure of representa-.
lion. No there would be no sufficient
inducements for any thing of the sort.
This vote would take money out OF poll.
tics. 1t would abolish trickery and de-
ception. .-s..r. .r.r,.
Let us illustrate the inducements to
corruption as representatives are now
chosen, by an example. Take q district
entitled to three representatives in Con. 2
gress or the Legislature, or territory
sufficient 10 make district. A victory,
under the present. system, really counts
SIX votes To the winning party, for this
party not only secures three votes to it,
self, hnt il del,riyes the losing party OF g
three votes, Then the victnripus party
representing, perhaps one half of the
people, after reaching power, hold in
their hands all the influence that right.
fully belongs TO all tie people, and this
prize tempts 10 fraud and corruption in
the attainmen. thereof Nothing of the
kind could occur with the cumulative
vote: With that vote each party would
secure one representative at least, aud as 90
a general rule the parties in each district, u
knowing their strength, would vote for o.
one or two candidates, AS their respective Il
numbers waqld indicate and justify: !,
Then the patronage power and influence,
Glowing the office, would be distributed
among the representatives Of all the peo-.
pie, and the temptation to cheat ene-half
the electoral body out of representation l'
would be gone forever, Minorities, as ,u
such, woDld be abolished Representa-:
ion would be divided between the politi.
,al parties according to their numbers,
md this Wonld friua /.