The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-02-19
THE AUSTRALIAN BALLOT SYSTEM

1t is somewhat remarkable that moi
until the past few months has there
been general knowledge in this country
of what is known as the Australian
Ballot System. The system having
been in operation in Australia for q
quarter of q century, and having been
adopted by Canada, Italy, Belgium and
the other countries, in all OF which it
has worked admirably; one would
naturally have thought that it would
long ago hsve been introduced here.
We don believe it WILL be disputed by
any intelligent person that the Ameri-
can election system is about the worst
there is. Other governments restrict
suffrage to limited few, but DO their
utmost to see that the will of the voters
shall be fairly represented in the
of the citizens will shall be free and
untrammeled. In America very little
restriction is put upon suffrage. The
right to vote is conceded to all, practi-
cally. But, after giving the bal
lot to everybody, our voting sys-
tenn is such that the vote is
really worth very little to the individ-
ual; he seldom expresses mis- will
through it, and rarely does the major
ity of votes as counted from the box
indicate the popular sentiment. This
&c
tics, and our voters are mere mariol-
cites to be employed as the manipu-
lators will. Nominations are not made
by the people, but by a few men who
"run the machine. I" These latter get
together and arrange the tickets, trad
ing, compromising and bulldozing, and
making the best pos sible terms with
each other. The people are not consid-
cred; they are expected. as s matter
of course, TO abide by the arrangements
made by the machine. In most in
stances the nominating convention
which are supposed to be representa-
tive in their make up, are merely
formal gatherings called for the pur-
pose of ratifying the work done by
handful of political leaders. A ticket
having been made up and formally
adopted. the election is open to fraud
and crookedness, the very system under
which these contests are conducted,
inviting to bribery, corruption, trick
cry and intimidation. The factory
owner hands out tickets 10 his
employees, and sees that they
deposit those tickets in the ballot
boxes, or that the men quit his service.
Citizens are purchased and herded in
"blocks of fVe' until the votes which
they have sold are duly delivered to the
buyer. We boast of secret ballot,
and then make it next to impossible
for the citizen to vote secretly. At the
late Presidential election gangs of men
were marched to the polls in the large
cities, each holding in his hand where
it could be seen by the accompanying
boss, the ticket which had been given |
him by the master, and the men were !
their tickets until they hal fulfilled
their obligations 80 those who owned /
thsm body and soul. Thousands are
not to-day certain whether they voted
for Cleveland or Harrison. It will
hardly be commended that a system !
which permits and encourages this
sort Of thing is right. 1t is republican !
to give every man the chance to vote,
but it is not republican to make the
ca ting of the vote otherwise than abso-
iutely free. 1t may be urged that the
individual should have the courage and
the manhood to be free and indie !
pendent, and so he should; but how
many ara there who dare defy their
masters or their party? who can afford
to quarrel with their bread and butter
and assert their independence at the
cost of their existence?
The ballot system known as the Aus
tralian, and which is now being dis
cussed in many of our State Legisla
lures, comes as near as any plan NAV,
to making voting free and secret, and if
the canvass of the ballots does not s low
the true expression of the will of the
majority it is because the voters are
not only dishonest but are clever in
their corruption. Charles P. Sou'e, CT
Boston, has recently published a volume
by John II. Wigmore, of the Boston
bar, giving history and account of the
Australian system. A brief statement
will prove how much superior the
scheme is to ours. Its aimis to provide
compulsory secret ballot. The State
prints and distributes tickets at the
public expense, thus doing away
with one occasion for assess
meuts and contributions. The voting
is done in room with space ;
enough rallied off to hold the ballot
boxes, officers of election, and num-
Der of little stalls, each with a shelf for
writing, and full plainly printed in +
structions to the voter, where each /
voter, having first received from the il