The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-10-28

saw that spectacle-men
election-time bossed and suna' 'ne
and controlled; and yet the ps,SSed 1o.,,I
voting makes our laws, that Won u'u. u Of
have 20 obey. 0O 'odi
Great complaint was mado :.
this thing was all wrong, that !, .a M
still going on and hence il w," was
that we must have law TO s,o sp sad
to prevent it in some way, any MP IT.
idea OF how to do that came iI aIi m .1e
way from Australia round w., W ule
way of England to us, and in - .. .nc
other states than ours tbev "e L''
adopted the idea, And it is all "ave nS
enough in this, that the voter a, w" t
time he prepares his ballot for IN S
post shall be shut off from supervisi" Ss'
by others, that he shall be SO si,ra,oa ,o'o,,
that nobody shall see how he osu vo,s.
That is all well enough. if Won W.,
carry 1t out in some efficient prac,;c%
way. 1t may cost some money ,na
we won't begrudge it if We can 81" ."
comphsh the end sought; but .m
afraid that this Baker ballot.law ~;% @
not produce satisfactory results ,nS
that the next legislature will take sS
vantage Of the general discon,eO,
arising from the bunglesomcness ~
the law to repeal it altogether and l.,
the whole plan fall to the ground
Let me state toyou what nv ite,
is and | obtained it from man with
remarkable amount OF brain bm
not exactly a SAINT, Eenjlmn F.
Butler.
In his recent book he informs n
that in 1851 the Coaliuon,,s IN
Observation-Disclosures up of Demo.
Gratis and Freesoilers-passed aballo,.
law, going into effect in that year and
remaining unaltered in 1852 and lS5,
three years-a plain success. COM
mending itself to the judgment Of all
reasonable men. But In 1884 the
old whis party, gone to seed down IN
Massachusetts, again got control Of
the legislature. They dared not re.
peal the ballot.llw, bnt they proceed.
ed to pass a Supplemental little
Innocent supplement which was
that every voter might vote secretly or
openly as he pleased. OF course i,
took the life out Of the law, that broke
1t down; that would be the end Of
secret voting, because whenever
laborlngman went to election, and
with his employer standing by, aid
vote secretly, that was telling his EN-.
ployer and everybody else that he
was about to vote on the other sile,
and you preceive, therefore, that un.
der this supplement the law becamea
dead letter.
That law was that the state shall
provide an envelope Of particular de.
sign and with an official stamp which.
could be counterteited only on pam
OF the usual punishment follow con.
victlon for such on ofiense. The
state provided these envelopes and
nothing else; then the voter ixed up
his ticket at home, at the polling.
place, or elsewhere. put it into the
envelope, and voted it.
This involves littlee Expense to the state;
there is no troublesome or cnmbrols
machinery, no foolishness about it,
Anybody could print tickets and have
them ready in good season. and every
body that wanted an additional sup
ply of envelopes could have them by
paying for them. But now, as we have
these cabooses or booths all made and
paid for, | would allow the voter to
use the booth in voting. If his EN-
ployer did manage to put into his
hand a sealed envelope, the Voter
when he got into the caboose could
quietly put that envelope into the
waste basket and put his own choice
into the ballot.box. That is my idea
OF proper ballot-law for this state.