San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1880-06-26

From the International Review for Nay, ls80.
If popular government derives it's
powers from the consent Of the govern
ed, the ballot is not only o right, but
the most sacred of all trusts. The
the word election means choice, and
this implies the exercise Of intelligence
and will. The voter is not q real
sovereign, but the mere tool and slave
Of another, if his ballot is not the
honest expression of bis own personal.
ity. 1t is by voting, that public opin
ion is crystalized into law; but if the
ball OF is a counterfeit the government
becomes huge imposture and nm or.
ganizcd lie. Lord Macau!ay, in one Of
bis letters to his constituents, declares
that the man who surrenders his vote
to care, ses and opportunities forgets
his duty as much as if he sold it
for a bank note" A false vote
or a false return is treason against
the republic. Like the crime of regi-
eide in monarchy it is the murder of
the sovereign. 1t has been likened to
poisoning q we'll from which multi
tudes are obliged to draw water The
act Of voting necessarily involves all
that is sacred in the idea of country
or priceless in our institutions. 10
make q foot ball Of the ballot is akin
to playing with nitro -glycerine or steam.
In voting, every citizen is his brothers
keeper ana if he votes falsely and un-
faithfully, his responsibility is to be
multiplied aud compounded by the
multitudcs whose welfare is ofnecessi-.
~ committed to his hands as the citi!
zen Of representative government. =
These are old shioDed notions, but
we believe the time is fully come for
their renewal. The inquiry isdaily
becoming more and more, pertinent
whether elections any any longer elect.
We think we are safe in asserting that
in every state Of the Union, and espec-
tally in the cities and large towns,
votes are not untrequently bought and
sold in the political market, and their
price regulated by the law Of supply
and demand. This is extensively and
feurfully true in, particular sections Of
the country. The debauching power Of
money in elections is notorious, and
constantly ON the increase through the
steady decline Of political morality.
Poverty increases with material pro-
sress ;iwhile the centralization ofeapital
and the power of corporate wealth
makes the poor more and more depen'
dent upon the rich. We know of sey.
eral cases of contested elections now
pending in the National House of Rep,
reseutatives 10 which Wholesale intim-.
idation and bribery of tie voters are
proved and such cases are becoming
more common with each succeeding
session Of Congress. We speak of all
political parties, and Of the Northern
as we'll as the Southern states. The
civil service of the government has
itself become regularly organized ma
chine for interfering with the freedom
of elections, and thus defeating that
uuiranmeIed expression ofthe people &
will, which is the true and only source
of power 10 = republic. Il is poliiical
prostitutioo cuunuingly fashioned inte
az iustitutio5, aud the ballot which
should
eHrecufs o fte1ar's vin.
IsHshsnins esss The -il q 6e1-"
thus becomes the shsmeful travesty o'
our politics. Its moral value Is for
rot,eo 10 i,s commercial. Ia select
II .E~-s .is Suz.rIz'