The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-10-10
Ballo, Reform Tested by Experience


The opponents of the ballot reform bill in
the legislature last winter, urged that it
would be cumbersome and impracticable
and would wholly fail to prevent bribery and
intimidation. The unfailing testimony from
all places where 1t had been tried were In
favor Of the system; but the gentlemen at
Augusta we're SO extremely fearful lest some
harm should befall the Ignorant voter" in
the tolls Of the new system that they put
forth extraordinary exertions to defeat the
bill. This week the system has had trial
in the State of Connecticut, where the voters
are no more intelligent than the voters of the
State of Maine. The Connecticut law is not
precisely like the bill before the Maine legis-
lature, but 1t includes the features so strenu-
ously objected to by some of the Maine legis-
lators. OF the practical workings of the sys-
TEN in Connecticut we have testimony from
various sources, but ali favorable. The
Hartford Evening Post, Republican paper
of such high character that its testimony
will not be questioned by men of either party,
took special pains to obtain accurate reports
of the results. From these reports the Post
concludes, that the law does all that was
claimed for 1t, aud Is a success. Leading
citizens of Hartford express a similar opin-
ion. Governor Buckley says that in the
ward in which he voted the voting went on
smoothly and his own personal experience
was that the voting could be done "as quickly
and with less disorder" than under the old
system. Mayor Root said he had heard
nothing but approval of the law expressed.
His experience in casting his own ballot was
that he could see no reason why there should
be any difficulty on account of the complica-
tions which the anti-secret ballot men
claimed would be the greatest hindrance to
the successful working Of the law. Every
thing was simple enough in practice, al
though on paper it looked intricate. Presi-
dent j. NJ. Allen, OF the Hartford Board of
Trade, was very enthusiastic over the result
of the trial. His own experience and that of
other gentlemen with whom he had talked
concerning the new system was that it &C.
complished all that its projectors claimed for
1t, and did away with all the evils which It
was designed to remedy. The reports Of the
Hartford Courant corroborate those of the
Post. "The voting arrangement" says the
Courant, worked much better than was ex-
pected all over the State. The Courant's
special reports from various quarters brought
word OF approval and surprise too" The
absence of the loafers and ticket peddlers
who have usually infested the polling places
was another good result, as agreeable as the
expeditions and easy casting of the ballots.
The new system has also been tried in an
other and very different constituency this
week, where 1t must necessarily have been
failure were there anything In the objec-
ttons made by the gentlemen at Augusta last
winter. 1t was said then that it would dis
franchise the ignorant voters, and its com.
plieations would be more than they could
master Probably there are In Chattanooga,
tennessee, as many voters OF the class who
nave been denied the privileges of education
as In any city in the country. The negro
voters oil that city, too, are largely Republi-
can, and were there any force to the obiee-
ton, the result would be expected to be nm
favorable to the Republicans. But the re-
ports show that the election was NOT univ
the quietest ever known, with less bribery
and less illegal voting. but that the Repuhli-
cans chose their candidate for mayor NV
large majority, and ten Of the sixteen coun-
cillors, with the results Of a tie in the cases
of two others.
The system that can be comprehended
readily in Tennessee and Connecticut would