The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1892-09-27
"<Free Ballot"

The Republican party in these de-
generate days is nothing more than
organized political hypocrisy.
1t passed the Mckinley bill to
"check" imports, and then insists on
credit for the fact that imports have
increased.
1t denounces "free trade" and then
boasts of the "triumph" of free trade
with Brazil and Cuba.
1t pretends to be the ardent defen-
derAof civil service, and yet the Presi-
dent, in order to get votes at Minnea-
polls, put up post-offices for sale.
The browning form of this hypo-
crisy is the professed devotion of the
party which inaugurated Hayes to
fair ballot. Under the pretext of Sc
curing a fair ballot in the South, it
has urged and is urging the passage
of the Force Bill, drawn by Daven-
port and pressed by Lodge in the
House and Chandler in the Senate.
But fair ballot in the North is al
together another matter. In the face
of the open or secret opposition of Re-
publican political managers nearly
every State has adopted the secret
ballot as protection to the working
man and check to the purchase of
ballots.
The result of this fair ballot, of this
ballot which protects the laboring man
of the North from intimidation, is TO
cut down the Republican majorities,
and because of this the Republicans
in several States are moving to repeal
the laws establishing secret ballot.
In Maine and Vermont the Repub-
lican leaders attribute their losses to
the secret ballot. Commenting on
this fact, the Nation says:
"The hollowness of much of the
Republican talk about free ballot. is
shown by the movement already re-
ported under way in Vermont TO
repeal the law introducing the Aus
ITALIAN system of voting. This sys-
tenn provides the best possible facility
for free ballot, enabling every man
to vote as he chooses, without inter-
ference and even without the kpoWI-
edge of any one else as to how he.
votes. The late election was the first
ever known in Vermont in which
every voter enjoyed perfect freedom
of action in casting his ballot. The
Democrats have always claimed that
sue system would help their party,
and the result justifies their conf
dence. No sooner is the result known
than the Republicans attribute the
falling off Of their majority to the
Australian system,S and call for its
abolition. In considering this ex-
PLANTATION it must be kept in mind
that the Republicans always claim to
be the party of intelligence, and de-
ride the Democrats as an ignorant
set, so that, if new system of voting
makes it hard for ignorant men TO
vote, it should be the Democrat
party which would suffer. If it is
really true that 5000 Republicans in
Vermont out of 1852 voting in 1883
are so ignorant that they remained
away from the polls rather than dis
play their ignorance, the prospect fol
the party is certainly dreary one in
States like Indiana, which have hun.
dreds of thousands of Republicans
and which will under the Australian
system this year for the first time in
a Presidential election"
Perhaps the "party of intelligence
will be destroyed by a device fol
raising the average intelligence of the
voters perhaps the "party of moral.
ty" will be destroyed by ballot di.
vised to check corruption at the polls
perhaps the party of patriotism" will
be overthrown at the first election in
which the American citizen car
cast unchallenged his ballot for Presi
dent.-Courier-Jo
Tn hiS cnonob Of Drnn1rl,, l.