The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-01-14
helregnlars nominee, which chance Is
further assured TO him by the feature Of

sAV tAVkAtNA9 u
further assured TO him ySthei feature o
The objection that the ticket Is large
Is not a good one. In the first place the
size has been greatly exaggerated and
secondly, there Is no special merit$in q
small ticket. ~ II lso, iwhy not use the
tissue ballot? The large ballot contain.
Ing tho names OF jail the candidates re.
quires the voter Ia; exercise an act foi
Judgment and makes him appreciate tie
fact that BIO is performing one OF the
most solemn duties I OF citizenship
Voting should he made more serious
mud not more farcical. I'll n large ticket
impressea on n 4 man more tho import.
ance OF his vote, It would be as we'll to
have him vote a bed sheet To bring about
30 desirable n result; A 4 si'.t!s
vi Tho enemies I0f the system have In
frequent instances endeavored to wound
itby providing that the ballots need not
necessarily be printed by the State, but
can DO printed separately the differ.
ent parties and supplied to the voter as
at present. This In the first place takes
away one element OF advantage In. the
Australian system, to.wit: The excuse
Tor campaign assessmentBio for ticket print
Ing, which assessments ARE I'M reality
used for purposes Of corruption. Again,
the advantage Of having all tho candi,
dates on the ticket so that tho voter
must In each case exercise Il choice, Ia
lost. The independent nominee, too, IL
left In the lurch In this way, while i'm.
der the new system no has tho same
prominence and tho; same opportunity
as the regular nominees, the State pro.
viding all the election machinery and
printing his tickets or rather his name
on the ticket and furnishing them to tho
voters. Nv Z. 4! lssS a
It's urged that the provision allowing
Independent nominations will swell the
size of the ticket To unheard of propor.
tons. Actual experience has shown
that few men are willing to mako them.
selves ridiculous by allowing their
names TO be used unless they have some
reasonable support, aud the provision
requiring candidates OF this kind TO DO
nominated by one In every hundred vot.
crs, and I'M no case less than fifty, is a
very good safety valve for independent
ambition. Another objection to having
tickets printed as at present is that fraud
would not be checked. ia tnau who
buys a vote, could seehis man walk into
tho election room and without delay dc.
post the ballot already prepared for
him. II hestopped to change the ballot
tho. purchaser would know that he was
violating his agreement OF sale. fts-s s.
" Another suggestion is to have the State
print the tickets separately aud distri:
butc them to the public in ;quantities.
1t is. obvious that the objections Just
urged apply with equal force to this
Isl ISS
tfThe objection Of the difficulties in the
way OF the illiterate voter. does not seem
well.founded. Such n voter can, by
applying to tho officers Of election,
obtain information from 4 sworn oil.
GERS belonging to-; tho different parties
or from any particular officer that
he n,ay select and lis advisor is sworn,
to secrecy. gli i:3Ei5
h Tho larger number OF our illitcrates
arc among the poor and laboring classes,
and the fact that almost all labor organ
izatlona in Ohio demand this system
would seem to indicate that they nre not
so much concerned about tho poor igno.
rant voter rs others would make us be-
lieve. There eau be NO stronger arru-
inent in favor Of the system than this
fact that the laboring classes MS Il body
demand its adoption rs u safeguard for
the purity OF our elections. Z, or course
no system can be made perfect, but the
Ignorant man would be less likely to he
imposed upon under the new system
than;under the one now in operation.
( Another great feature is the secret
booth which by lnsuring absolute Sc
crecy stops the purchase OF votes and
bulldozlng. For Us has been we'll said
by Mr.. Wigmore, "No man has ever
placed his money corruptly without sat
lsfying himself that the vote was cast
to agreement or, in a phase
which became only t common during
the last campaign, Nithout proof that
the goods were delivered and when
there is 70 be no proof but the word OF
the bride taker, it is idle to place any
trust in such d:use Of money! ;i{ii:iti,:
IA blow has been aimed at this feature
by allowing the voter an option as to
whether or not he desires to cast his vote
in secret, but it can readily be seen that
such a provision would nullify, al! the
OF the system. Il The instant a
man expressed his choice OF secrecy be
would be branded ibysthe professional
purchaser OF votcs, and it could be made
m, express provision Of the agreement Of
purchase that the voter should not choose
to vote in : secret. This would bring us
back to the old system OF the wholesale
purchase OF votes, and would etnasculate
the entire system. 4;
e Objection has been made that the sys-
ten ia cumbrous and takes too much
time. The experience, in Massachusetts
is tho best answer to this statement.
The expense involved is not comparable
in amount to the campaign assessments
levied : UNDER pretense Of paying for
tickets, 7tickotholders, ward executives
and 5hustlers, and the machinery is per-
fectly simple. i. The time occupied 4 in
voting is not appreciablyy greater than
minute for each voter, which would al
low GOO voters to vote on an election day
in Cincinnati II only one booth were
usel at tins instead OF half a dozen or
more. 1t has been found in England
that with four private compartments
votes eau bio received at $50 10 200 per
hour. n q !, iy5
n MIR. Richard H. Dana, Of Boston, after
many experiments with persons of all
degrees {of intelligence, finds that the
time necessary TO take the ballot, retire
70. the booth, mark the ballot and de
posit it, varies from a minimum OF forty
seconds to Is maximum OF one minute
and thirty-fvs liseconds. Where there
areten booths ten votes per minute can
be cast, making 600 votes in an hour,Sif
the officers at tho box could receive them
thst rapidly. As to expense, f,he entire
outfit for syoting place required i'm ex-.
cess Of the present outfit required by
4. p n n 49, fHEN II