The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-30
sGAIxs FALLS INTO LINE.

The lower house Of the Maine legisls-
ture, BY vote Of Is to 60. has Just passed
bill which embraces all the essential
features of the Australian ballot law. The
Senate had already passed the bill, and
the governor IS pledged to sign it, so that
it Is certain to become law, and thus
place the Pine Tree state in the column of
states that have adopted this last and best
resort for honest elections and secret,
free ballot.
The action Of the Maine legislature in
this connection bears strong testimony to
the steadily growing demand for this re-
form and to the power of public opinion
when vigorously expressed. For it hap
pens that three weeks ago this same lower
house, under the influence of short-sighted
and narrow-minded trading politicians,
had by an overwhelming majority rejected
the measure. The schemers and corrup-
tionists on both sides saw in its adoption
death-blow to their influence in their re-
spective parties. and the doom of prolific
source Of income to them about election
time.
But the measure having been presented,
and being strongly favored by the labor
organizations no less than by the decent
public sentiment Of all classes, its sum-
mary defeat aroused storm of popular in
dignation such as has not been experienced
in that state within many years. And the
people Of Maine, though somewhat slug
eish in their political movements, have
fashion Of expressing themselves pretty
emphaticaliy when once fairly aroused.
1t therefore happened that the members
who had allowed tricky politicians to in
veigle them into the defeat of the bill were
made the objects of torrent of denuncia.
ton from tho press. and from organiza-
tons Of various kinds, and from the masses
of the people, which they were powerless
to resist, and they made haste to recant
their error.
1t is an open question which party has
reaped most profit from the evils of the old
system, but whichever party has thus
proited matters not, for no party on that
account could afford to defeat the measure
when once presented and backed by a
strong current Of public opinion. BY such
action it would lose more than could be
gained by any amount OF corrupt and cum
ming manipulation.
But the truth is that the brood of "po-
litical workers" that the old system Gre
ated and maintained were generally men
without principle, of no sincere attachment
TO any party, who were in politics s'for
revenue only" and totally unreliable in an
emergency. A system under which both
or either of the parties were led to appeal
TO such men or use them was an unmixed
evil Their presence as active and intiu-
entail factors in elections was a detriment
and only detriment, to clean politics,
good government and the candidature of
able, upright, representative good citizens.
In Maine, as elsewhere, the adoption of
the Australian system will relegate such
men to their proper level and cannot but
rebound TO the advantage of the party of
the higher principle, embracing the better
elements of community, and in ali parties
must result in the selection of better
class of candidates. Such being the facts.
the Republican party cannot suffer by the
change. as it would have suffered, and
Justly, If this change had been defeated by
a Republican legislature