The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1881-04-21
DRUGGIsT-GEo. E. o'HARA,

One Of the greatest nuisances at elcc.
tons is the habit that certain class OF
voters have gotten into OF crowding around
the poles in the different wards IN a man
ner that does not only blockade the side
walk, but prevents the free ingress and
cgress Of voters. 1t is highly unpleasant
to the pedestrian, especially when the
streets are muddy, w be compelled, either
to elbow his way through molly, bolster
Gus crowd, who pay no attention whatever
to anything but a rude shove, and then
turn upon the hurried and vexed shower
with an oath and an abusive epethet, or, on
the other hand, if the hasty business man
does not choose to lay himself liable to
such unwarranted abuse, be compelled to
take the middle of the street two or three
times before he reaches his home or place
| OF business. Why can there not be Il
change IN tins very Objectionable habit.
There is not the least necessity for any
man to hang around the poles after he has
cast his vote, and there is certainly nothing
80 very remarkable in a man or number
OF men casting his vote or their votes as TO
| hold the interest OF a crowd of iders for
| hours and cause them to stare with open
mouthed wonder at every one who forces
his way by them and hands over the coun-
ter a little slip of white paper, neatly fold
| ed. In innumcrable cases when a voter has
struggled through the unruly crowd, has,
with painting breath, given his name to the
| Judges; handed in his slip and turns to
| leave, he finds that the gap he made in
| coming, has closed behind him and he is
compelled to exert himself anew, run once
more the gauntlet of curses and angry
thrusts and foul breath in order to escape
from his prison. 1t is a mistake to
say that the men who crowd
| around the poles are either the candidates
or their allies. 1t is not true These do
none of the crowding. They 20 from pole
to pole and from street to street in search of
voters and but few of them stay for any
length of time at any one pole. The men
who are guilty Of this abominable habit
and with whom it has become second ma
ture, are mostly those who have already
voted, or who are not eligible to vote.
They stand around, lean up against the
sidewalk railing and the door posts, with
hands in their pockets, discoursing loudly
and learnedly and blasphemously about
the chances of their iavonte candidate,
stopping only to pucker their filthy mouths
to squirt tobacco juice at some struggling
passer by, or to administer a cuff
to some overhasty voter We are
as much in favor Of giving
the American citizen, be he any color he
may, his political rights as any upon
the face of the earth-THE BULLETIN
would be the last to place the slightest
hindrance in the way of the man with an
honest ballot in his good right hand, but
we feel that silence, when the highest
privilege Of the American citizen is SO
welded as to become nuisance IN the sight
of law and dcCency, is next to a crime,
and therefore we speak Another habit
that puts down the vote Of the man who is
guilty Of it to the level of an article of
traffic, even though by implication, is that
OF bleeding" the candidates. From our
own observation we know that this is a
growing habit among the colorcd and some
Of the white voters. These persons of small
principle, because Of small Intelligence,
are sharp enough not TO accost
the candidate with the remark:
"Givc me fifteen cents and III vote for
you;" but, after having logged candi-
date for halt day, they approach him
and, without any ceremony, tell him that
they have been at work all day, are "dry"
and need dime or a quarter to "wet their
whistle. "Thc candidate probably knows not
the miserable beggar, but knows what that
ratAua hc nuns bis hand down his brooches
p<ke'. brings Dut com and losses it TO
| 'i,E miseiabIG wretch who takes
Il pjb grin Of satisfaction, walks
DE Djth 'hc remark ''youre my
mAh sn1 repeats the programme with the
neKt candidate with the same result Can
| diihieS themselves are somewhat to blame
IN this, yet it is difficult to see how they
can help themselves. A more vigorous en-
forccment Of the Illinois election laws
would doubtless have beneficial in
iuencc upon this disgraccful bantcring
with votes and these covert, indirect de-
mands for petty brides.