Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-11-16
pALLOT-BOX OR SWORD.
DAMAGES DISCOURSE ON .
MIGHTY INSTITUTION.


y, Ballot Boxes Of tho Anclents-rhe Inn
..snce of tho Ballot In Government
r,,,,;arities Of . Presidential Csmp.,.r-
. sermon Delivered IN tho BROOKLYN
ralernacle.
49,, --urwo cubits and half was the lsnc+,,
It, and cubit ard and. halt the breadth Of it.
lna sEsodus xxxvii, I. He said: ".
look at 1.-THE sacred chest Of the an.
ants nJ 1t was about ave feet long, three
1st wide, and three feet high. II was
';thin and out of pure gold. On the ton
e. stood two angels facing each other
9TH outspread wings. In that sacred
=. was the law, and there were in II a
,rsat many precious stones. With that
a , went the fate of the nation. Carried
front of the host, the waters of the
ordan parted. Divinely charged, costly.
,reeious. momentous box. No unhofy
auds might lay hold of it. It was
allied the ark of the covenant. Butyon
IL. III understand it was box, the most
recio;s box of the ages. Where is il
low? Gone forever. Not crypt of
Lhurch or museum of the world has n
fragment of it.
but is not. this nation Gods chosen
Deople? Have we not passed through
he Red Sea? Have we not been led with
nillar of fire by nighte Has this Nation
10 ark of the covenant? Yes, the ballots
box, the sacred chest of the Nation, the
rk Of the American covenant.
Il is the law, in it is the divine and the
human will, in it is the fate Of the ma
ion. Carried in front of our host again
md again the waters of national trouble
have parted. Mighty ark of the cove
liant, the American ballot-box! It is a
Eery old box.
In Athens, long before the art of print
ng the people dropped pebbles into it
give expression to their sentiments.
After that beans were dropped into it
white bean for the affirmative, a black
bean for the negative. After that, when
hey wished to vote man out of citizen
Ihip they would write his name upon a
she'll and drop that into the box.
OConnell, and Grote, and Golden,
Ind Macaulay, and Gladstone fought
great battles in the introduction of the
ballot boxes in England, and to-day it is
one of the Businesses of that Nation. It
is one of the corner stones of our Govern
bnent. 1t is older than the constitution.
In it is our national safety. Tell me
what will be the fate of the American
ballot-box, the ark of the American COW
enant, and will tell you what will be
the fate of this nation. Give the peo-
an opportunity to express their political
insurrection and revolution.
Eifbor rive tbam tho bol1ot nv fboy
will take the sword. Without the ballot
box there can be no free republican in
stitutions. Milton, visiting in Italy, no.
ticed that on the sides of Vesuvius gar
deners and farmers were at work while
the volcano was in eruption, and he
asked them if they We're safe. Yes,
said the farmers and the gardeners, 1T is
safe; all the danger is before the erup-
'ton; then comes earthquake and terror,
but just as soon as the volcano begins to
pour forth lava we all fee! at rest" 1t
is the suppression of political senti
|ment, the suppression of public opinion,
that makes moral earthquake and Ma
|tonal earthquake. Let public opinion
pour forth, and that gives satisfaction,
and that gives peace. and that gives per-
manency to good government. And yet,
though the ballot-box is the sacred chest
and the ark of the American covenant,
you know as we'll as I know it, as it's
sworn antagonists, and I propose this
morning in Gods name and as 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.
First, remark, ignorance is mighty
foe. Other things being equal, the more
Intelligence man has the better he is
qualified to exercise the right of suf-
frage. You have been ten, fifteen, twenty,
thirty years studying American institu-
tons, you have canvassed all the great
questions about tariff and home rule and
all the educational questions, and every
thing in American politics you are we'll
acquainted with. You consider yourself
competent to cast q 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 yonl
name, YOU will cast your vote and pass
out. Well done.
But right behind you there will come
a man who cannot spell the name OF
comptroller. OF attorney, OF mayor. He
cannot write, or if he can write he uses
a small ii" for the personal pronoun'
He could not tell on which side OF the
Allegheny Mountains Ohio is. Edu-
Gated 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 lntelll.
gence. That is not right. All men OF
fair mind will acknowledge that that Is
not right. Until man can read the
Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution of the United States, ano
calculate the interest on the American
debt, and know the difference between
republican form of government and
monarchy or despotism, he is unit to
exercise the right of suffrage at any
ballot-box between Key West and
Alaska.
In 1872, in England, there were 2,6Oo,'
quo children who ought to have been naa ~
school. There were only 1888, 900, II
other words about so per cent, and OF
the so per cent. not more than b pei
cent. got anything worthy the name OF
an education. Now. take that foreign
ignorance and add to our American ls.
norance, and there will be in November
thousands and thousands of people whe
are no more qualified to exercise tht
right of suffrage than to lecture OF
astronomy. How are these things TO ps
corrected? BY. laws of compulsory eau.
cation we'll executed. go in for q Law