Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1880-06-16
CLEARFIELD, PA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE l6, 1880

personal right like the right of pro-
perty or liberty. IL is subject to the
absolute control of the State and to
whatever limitations the Legislature
thereof may put upon it, with the
single exception that the fifteenth
amendment to the National Constitu,
ton provides against any diserimina
ton on account OF race, color, &c. The
vote is Usually by ballot, but the ways
in which il has been expressed have
been very numerous. The word ballot
comes from the Greek word bdilein, 10
throw, and was originally applied to q
little ball thrown into a box. In
Athens, it was first customary to vote
by casting pebbles into the boxes, but
afterwards beans-white and black
the white for the affirmative, the black
for the negative. In the great Court
Of the Areopagus, where the decisions
We're by ballot, they always voted at
night, so that no one could see how
they voted.
Solon divided the people at Athens
into four classes for the purpose of
being voted for and elected to office
The judges could be named from all
four. The magistrates only from the
first three. All candidates for civil
offices had to present themselves for
examination before they could be ad,
mitted to their positions. This was an
early specimen of what Is now called
civil service reform.
AT Rome voting by tickets was first
instituted, and Cicero, who was a bit
ter anstocrat, said a secret ballot, "the
silent suffrages of the people" some.
times wrought great and potent re-
forms.
In very early days, Servius Tullius
divided the people of Rome into one
hundred and ninety.three centuries or
hundreds, and these into six classes,
He ranked the rich, the least numer.
Gus, in the first centuries the mid
ding classes, who were more numerous,
in the next and the INDECENT multi.
tude in the last and as each century
had but one vote, it was property
rather than numbers that decided the
election.
In England, the ballot was proposed
and received considerable support in
the beginning of the eighteenth cen.
tury but not until 1880 did it receive
serious consideration. In that year
O'Connell proposed it in the House of
Commons and it received twcnty.one
votes. Mr.. Grote was, for several
years after, its most conspicuous sup.
porter, but it had the approval of
Macauley, Golden, and Brougham. 1t
was not adopted, however, until 1879
under the leadership of the Gladstone
ministry. The bitterest fight in all
the Parliamentary history OF that
country occurred during the reign of
William Ill, on the question of how
much and what kind of property
member of Parliament ought TO have
to be eligible. A bill passed the House
of Commons and the House of Lords
at one session, and was voted by the
King. Al the succeeding session it
was passed by the Commons, but lost
in the House of Lords. Then the
Commons attempted to tack the bill
on the Appropriation bill, and failed
only by a small majority after a very
powerful argument showing that it
would be utterly without precedent,
In this country all elections are by
ballot except in the State of Kentucky,
whore they vote viua Uoce. The word
ballot has become so nearly synony-
nous with all words expressing safe,
guards of liberty, that it is supposed
to epitomize them, The poet Halleck
says