The Critic and record., 1891-03-30
crRRrNr pREss OPINION.
The Mo,&ncr in III. Nish,shirt

ftc" Wt NtC lOfN sun.
Senator Frsbie lIoar himself pro.
nomces in the Forum for April the
funeral oratiou over bis own Force bill.
It's pathetic carncstness and dignihed
gluUm only partly relieved by the assur.
anCc ol political hereafter for Force aud
Fraud, shOuld put Mr. Hoars magazine
article ON "The Fate of the Election Bill"
high among the masterpieces of humOr-
Ous literature.
As we read these burning words of re-
buke aud warning we can almost see the
piCkwickian figure Of the noble enthusi-
asst clad only in uightgown and spectacles,
as he pours forth fiery rhetoric at his au-
dienCe i'm The Chcyal glass, needless of the
feminine voice that adiurcs him to come
right to bed and prepare himself by good
nights sleep for the satisfactory digestion
Of his lavOrite buckwheat cakes In the
morning.
Blood, commissions or what not, Frisbie
Hoar will still have his gridde cakes
Lcgalizing the DuelIo.
F,0m tie N6jD Y0tk Recorder.
The San Antonio EJpJtw is i'm favor of
legalizing the duello as a possible method
of putting stop to street lighting, and,
indeed, of making the duel itself I'M
popular. The scheme proposed by the
EJpjTSs is, with some notifications, u re-
turn to the once lawful wager Of battle In
which even women sometimes took part
and did not always come off second best.
The new plan is that a grievously injured
person who insists on avenging his honor
must in the first place file his challenge
with u Justice of the peace, who shall have
II served like a citation.
If the challenged man, having been
thus cited declines to fight, Judgment
shall go against him by default; but if tue
detail two ConstablCs to place the antag-
onisis on the field and compel them to
fight at close quarters till one of them is
wounded or killed. Possibly such a
scheme might make duels less frequent
than they now are along the Mexican
border because il would make them really
serious matters. And beyond question 1t
would, further North, do almost entirely
away with such sham duels as fiery club
men have sometimes been known to en-
gage in.
More Ballot Reform States,
From me Pliiddelphid Tunes.
In addition to the twonty-one States
recently mentioned as having adopted
the Australian ballot system in some
form, Maine has passed u similar act,
after II was first defeated in the House.
The public demand for the bill was sutl-
cient to overcome Congressman Boutelle's
opposition, and the defeated bill was
passed in response to the appeal of thou
sands of the voters who rained petitions
upon the reCreant members
Three more States, Illinois, Pennsylva-
mia and Ohio. are almost certain To- be
added to the list before the present Legis.
lativesession closes, increasing the number
to twenty-five out OF forty-four States.
With the law III successful operation in
majority of the States its adoption by the
others can only be matter of time. No
political reform since the formation of the
Government has taken stronger hold
upon the people or spread more rapidly.
The rapid and altogether gratifying
progress made by ballot reform is an illus
tration of the power of the voter as against
that of the professional politician. The
politicians Of every State and of all par
tics are and have been at heart quite as
hostile to the movement as Congressman
Boutelle. In some States the politicians
have not been quitcso courageous in their
opposition as the Maine Congressman,
but in no State did they love the proposed
reform any more than he did Little as
they loved ballot reform, they loved po-
litiCal retirement less, and in order to
keep in some semblance of sympathy
with popular opinion they have usually
acquiesced in the passage of ballOt-reform
| laws,