The Labor enquirer., 1883-03-17

doubtless be urged against this plan,
but they seem to me trivial as compared
with the gains. The final date for the.
registration of candidates should be
fixed at such length of time before
election as to secure opportunity for
scrutiny, and the lists then advertised at
public expense, as election proclamations
are now ad vertised. To\prevent the
swelling of the lists by trivial fnomina-
tiOns, either the number of indorsing
voters requi red to SECURE registration
might be made large, or fee mightt\be
exacted; or, what would probably be
still better, d deposit might be required
which, in case the candidate did not re-
ceive certain number Of votes, Or reach
certain rank in the voting, should be
retained for the public treasury, in other
cases being returned after the election.
Thousands Of ballots would. thus suffice
where now hundreds of thousands are
printed. The power Of nominating CON
VentiOns would be reduced to the moral
effort of their endorsement, since any
candidate endorsed by the required
number of citizens would be as well
presented to each voter as the nominee
of the strongest party convention. Thus
the cOrruptions Of primary Ipolitics and
the practice of selling votes. in nominat-
ing conventions would be destroyed, and
the practice of bIaCkmailing candidates
by the so-called Endorsements of politi-
cal clubs whose only object. is to make
money, would also be destroyed And
not only would large amount Of money
now required from political committees
and from individual candidates be saved,
but the practice of buying votes, and
THAT Of coercing voters by terror of dis
charge from employment, would be in
large part, if not altogetherI broken up
by the difficulty Of telling how a man
voted. There could be no putting a
ticket in mans hand and keeping an
eye on it until deposited. And thus, too,
the paying of poll taxes, where that IN
just and undemocratic tax is retained,
and the sending Of carriages for voters,
would become risky Investments.
AS for the banners, the torch-ight8
and the marchings of uniformed clubs,
which have become such feature in
our presidential elections, there would,
I think, be little objection to their pro-
hibitlon save on the part of manufacture
ers Of Election goods" Each party re-
sorts to them, mainly because the Dp-
posing party resorts to them and pro-
hibition which would put all parties on
the same level and save large expendi-
lures would meet with little opposition,
and would be, I think, generally ap-
proved by public opinion. PennsyI-
yania has already prohibited torch Light
professions within a certain time pre-
ceding election, and there is: more to be
said for absolute prohibition than the
mere. saving Of cost. When a man puts
on a uniform, or carries a torch IN pro-
cession his 8elf-pride is enlisted in the
success Of the party, and all appeals to
his reason are vain, and these glittering
displays Of partisanship are not merely
di3graceful to a people, whose govern
ment can only find stable foundations in
the reason Of the masses, but they are
positively Injurious. -.
1t seems to me, moreover, that it would
be good public policy, and wise and
fruitful expenditure of public money, to
lessen the expenses of election cam
paigns by the provision of public halls
for political meetings. Every town and
city ought to have it's public hall or
halls, which, like Faneuil hall in Boston,
could be had, under proper restrictions,
for any public meeting on the payment
Of the cost of lighting and cleaning. In
the country districts the school houses
are frequently used for such purposes, y
and in the cities every grammar school
might be provided with such a hall,
which would have other good uses than
for political meetings.
The practice of treating" by canHi-
dates has, in many parts of the count Fy,
grown into an evil Of formidable maghi-
tude. The old custom of a personal
house-to-house canvass has, in our
cities, degenerated into visiting OF
liquor saloons and "corner groceries =
Tho candidate is exnected to. visit eabh