Morning journal and courier., 1886-02-10
THR SECRET BALLOT.

An Important Hearing Before The
 Labor Committee A Diversity of
 Views On The Question Of Voting
 The Rearing Adjourned For Day.
 HARTFORD, Feb. 9, 1886. Special to the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 The center of attraction this afternoon was the Labor committee, who had under consid- e1ation three bills providing for secret bal lot. The principal bill was one prepared by MT King, of Naugatuck, and which is quite complicated in it's provisions. It provides in substance that ballots shall be provided for the different towns by the Secre tary of State. That room shall be provided at polling places in which voters can enter one at time, prepare their ballots in sealed envelopes and then deposit them in box prepared to receive them. If there are more than one ballot to be cast all shall be enclosed in one envelope. Severe penalties are provided for counterfeiting or attempting to counterfeit tickets, etc.
 The other bills have the same general end in view, but are more simple and less severe ill their restrictions.
 Daniel P Bradley, of Middletown, was the first speaker He advocated the law in gen. eral for secret ballot. He told of the evils of the present system and said there was no expression of honest sentiment by the voters. He thought under the proposed law there was no chance for fraud, and every man, ac- cording to his opinion, was entitled to all the protection that secret ballot gives him.
 MT. Smith, of Westport, said that he fa- vored a secret ballot in the strictest sense l,,4A Ak,,o Inc hi ov- perience regarding elections there had been system of intimidation and bulldozing which was contrary to the spirit and genius of re- publican institutions. What he wanted was an absolute secret ballot as provided in MT. Kings bill. Then every man could vote in
 way that no man would know how he voted. MT. Chadsey, of Middletown, was the next speaker He said the first bill (Mr. King's) was what was wanted by the workingmen of Connecticut and no other. He said he had taken an active interest in the cause of labor and he was certain that the open ballot was from the fact that they were watched by politicians and bosses so that they dare not vote conscientiously for fear of bringing down the displeasure of their employers upon their heads. There were great many phases of the present law that were wrong and un- just, and could only be remedied by the en- actment of the law prepared by MT. King, of Naugatuck.
 MT. Corcoran, of Middletown, said he fav- ored the law proposed by MT. King. He knew of the evil of the present system, as he had seen it himself He had driven to polling places by their employers and these men had been compelled to vote contrary to their own consciences. This state of things had existed for many years
 and it had got to be remedied in some way. MT. Pine, of Hartford, said there vera al ways two sides to every question, right side and a wrong side. He said that he believed that his ballot to be honest must be protect ed and under the proposed bill he thought this might be accomplished. He thought the poor honest man was not on the equal footing with the rich man so far as the ballot was concerned. If man can go into room by himself and alone, he can prepare his bal lot to suit himself and then he will surely vote an honest ballot. While some vote an open ballot, there are others whose bread and butter depends upon how they vote.
 There is a certain class of men who don't
 want any law in regard to ballot that can not be controlled by money, and this law
 would take the power away from the politi- cians
 Mr. Hale, of Glastonbury, said that he had heard the arguments advanced and they
 were all right. But there class who sometimes wanted to scratch a name off a ticket, and if they could vote second bal lot they could do this without it's being known, and this was another advantage. MT. Roode, of Griswold, said he had al ways voted as his conscience dictated, and he was surprised to learn that there were persons in some parts of the State who dare not go to the polls and vote as their con- sciences dictated. He had never heard of any such intimidation in his section, which featuring districts in the State. He said he did not see anything in this law that would prevent man from be- ing hired to stay at home. He said if any man wanted this protection let him have it, but as for himself he insisted upon his right to vote an open ballot. He did not want to be classed with this class of people who were away down so low that they dare not vote as they thought best or as their consciences rep resent.
 Col. E. NJ. Graves of the Hartford Tele- gram said he had always been in favor of a secret ballot and was in favor of such law now. He said that this proposed law took away no mans rights, but it did do away with intimidation and corruption, and that was what was wanted. He believed that this law was not only good for the workingman, but also for the manufacturer. He said be had seen starving families brought so by political intimida- ton, families who had been discharged by their employers because they had dared to vote according to the dictates of their own consciences.
 William Humes, of Hartford, said he had voted fifty years and had always voted an open ballot, and while he had worked in many factories he had never heard of any in-
 limitation. If anybody wanted to vote a secret ballot he had no objection.
 James F. Pigott, of New Haven, said there were some defects in the proposed law which should be remedied. In New Haven, for instance, where in some wards there were 300 voters, it would be impossible for them all to vote under this law. The law should provide that the selectmen may divide the voting districts into precincts of not more than three or four hundred voters. Again, the law does not provide who shall be the judge of fraudulent ballots if any such are cast. Again, the penalty for counterfeiting these ballots or votes was left discretionary with the judges
 of the courts to send such persons to jail or
 State prison at their discretion and for such
 length of time as they thought best. While
 he was in favor of a secret ballot, he could
 not support a bill that gave the judges such arbitrary powers.
 Daniel Lee, of Norwich, presented model of a box or closet to be used at polling places in which persons could prepare their ballots unseen before voting. The hearing was then adjourned until Wednesday at 1:30 p. m.