Milford chronicle., 1888-11-09


Importance Of tho Ballot In Govern
ment-The Origin Of the BalIot-PecuIi-
arities Of Presidential Campaign.
BRooKLYN, Nov. AT the Tabernacle
this morning the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage,
d. D., expounded some passages of Scripture
about ancient politics. He gave out tho
hymn:
Arm OF the Lord, awake, awakei
Put on thy strength, the nations shake
The doctors text was; "Two cubits and a
half was the length Of it, and a cubit and
half the breadth Of it, and cubit and half
the height Of it. Exodus xxxvii, /. Hesaid:
Look at 1.-THE sacred chest Of the ancients.
Il was about five feet long, three feet wide
and three feet high. It was within and out
Of pure gold. On the top Of it stood two
angels facing each other with outspread
wings. In that sacred box was the law, and
there were in it a great many precious stones.
With that box went the fate of the nation.
Carried in front Of the host, the waters Of
the Jordan parted. Divinely charged, costly,
precious momentous box. No unholy hands
might lay hold Of it. 1t was called the ark
of the covenant But you will understand it
was box, the most precious box Of the ages.
Where is it now7 Gone forever. Not crypt
Of church or museum Of the world has a
fragment Of it.
But is not this nation Gods chosen peoplel
Have we not passed through the Red seat
Have we not been led with pillar Of fire by
night Elas this nation no ark Of the cove
nantl Yes the ballot box, the sacred chest
of the nation, the ark of the American cove
nant.
In it is the law, in it is the divine and the
human will, in it is the fate Of the nation.
Carried in front of our host again and again
the waters Of national trouble have parted.
Mighty ark Of the covenant, the American
ballot boxl 1t is a very old box.
In Athens, long before the art Of printing,
the people dropped pebbles into it to give ex-
preston to their sentiments. After that
beans were dropped into it-a white bean for
the affirmative, a black bean for the mega
tive. After that, when they wished to vote
man out of citizenship they would write his
name upon a shell and drop that into the box.
THE uGHTINEss OF THE BALLOT BOX.
OConnell and Grote and Golden and Ma
caulay and Gladstone fought great battles in
the introduction of the ballot boxes in Eng
land, and today it is one Of the fastnesses Of
that nation. It is one of the corner stones OF
our government 1t is older than the consti-
tuition. In it is our national safety. Tell me
what will be the fate of the American ballot
box, the ark of the American covenant, and
will tell you what will be the fate of this
nation. Give the people once year, or once
in four years, an opportunity to express their
political sentiments, and you practically
avoid insurrection and revolution.
Either give them the ballot or they will
take the sword. Without the ballot box there
l.
ton visiting in Italy noticed that on the sides
of Vesuvius gardeners and farmers were at
work while the volcano was in eruption, and
he asked them if they were safe. "Yes," said
the farmers and the gardeners, "it is safe;
all the danger is before the eruption; then
comes earthquake and terror, but just as
soon as the volcano begins to pour forth lava
we all feel at rest" 1t is the suppression Of
political sentiment, the suppression Of
public opinion, that makes moral earth
quake and national earthquake Let pub
lie opinion pour forth, and that gives
satisfaction, and that gives peace, and
that gives permanency to good gov
ernment And yet, though the ballot box is
the sacred chest and the ark Of the American
covenant, you know as well as | know it has
its sworn antagonists, and / propose this
morning, in Gods name and as q Christian
patriot, to set before you the names of some
of the sworn enemies Of this sacred chest, the
ark of the American covenant, the ballot
box.
IGNORANCE AS AN ELEMENT IN POLITICS.
First, remark, ignorance is a mighty foe
Other things being equal, the more intelh-
gence a man has the better he is qualified to
exercise the right of suffrage. You have
been ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years study
ing American institutions, you have can
vassed all the great questions about tariff and
home rule and all the educational questions
and everything in American politics you are
well acquainted with. You consider your
self competent to cast a vote next Tuesday,
and you are competent. You will take your
position in the line of electors, you will wait
for your turn to come, the judge of election
will announce your name, you will cast your
vote and pass out. Well done.
But right behind you there will come q
man who cannot spell the name Of comp
troller, or attorney or mayor. He cannot
write, or if he can write he uses a small 81"
for the personal pronoun. He could not tell
on which side of the Allegheny mountains
Ohio is Educated canary birds, educated
horses know more than he. He will cast his
vote and it will balance your vote. His ig-
norance is as mighty as your intelligence.
That is not right. All men Of fair mind will
acknowledge that that is not right Until a
man can read the Declaration Of Independ-
ence and the constitution of the United
States, and calculate the interest on the
American debt, and know the difference be-
tween a republican form of government and
a monarchy or despotism, he is unfit TO ex-
ercise the right Of suffrage at any ballot box
between Kew West and Alaska
In 1872 in England there were 100000
children who ought to have been in school
There were only 1888, 900, in other words,
about 90 per cent, and Of the so per cent. not
more than per cent. got anything worthy
the name of an education. Now, take that
foreign ignorance and add it to our American
ignorance, and there will be in November
thousands and thousands Ct people who are
no more qualified to exercise the right Of suf
frage than to lecture on astronomy. How
are these things to be corrected By laws of
compulsory education, well executed. l 90
in for a law which, after giving fair warning
for a few years, shall make ignorance a
crime There is no excuse for ignorance on
these subjects in this land, where the common
schools make knowledge as free as the fresh
air Of heaven. / would have a board Of ex-
animation seated beside the officers of regis
tration, and let them decide whether the men
who come up to vote have any capacity to
be monarchs in land where we are all mon
archs. One Of the most awful foes Of the
American ballot box today is popular ignor-
ance. Educate the people, give them an
opportunity to know and understand what
they do. II they will not take the education,
deny them the vote.
Another powerful enemy Of this sacred
chest, the ark Of the American covenant, the
ballot box, is spurious voting. In 1880, in
Brooklyn, there were thousand names re-
corded Of persons who had no residence here,
and il there were a thousand attempted
fraudulent votes in the best city on the con
tinent, what may we expect in cities not 80
fortunatel What a grand thing is the law Of
reeistTationl Without It elections in this
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