Eureka weekly sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1887-1902, 1892-02-06

This country has at last reached the
point where the only absolutely free bal
lot is the secret ballot; and its degree OF
freedom is exactly in proportion to its
degree Of secrecy. In the early days OF
the republic, when the voters were com
paratively few and the influences brought
TO bear upon them were principally per-
sonal or argumentative, the evils OF the
open ballot or viva voce vote were COM
paratively few. But 10 these days, when
politics has become . regular business,
when the voter is subjected to methods
Of coercion which were unknown to the
fathers, a SECRET, an absolute secret bal
lot has become an Indispensable prere-
quisite TO an honest and genuine ex.
passion Of opinion by the voter.
This country has been slow to reeog-
nize this fact. In most OF the States
there has been for some time . pretense
Of q secret ballot, but it has, until within
the last few years, we may say within
the last two years, been 8 pretenee. In
fact, it lie only within the last year that
one Of them, Kentucky, has abolished
the old practice Of having the voter
stand up at the polling place and call out
viva voce to the election officers the
names of the candidates for whom he
| desires 10 vote, while those officers re-
corded bis vote in the poll book.
Bat the reform in the system Of OBJ
tanning the expression Of the suffrsgsns
has extended with a wonderful rapidity,
| once that it was started, until now
,hirty.three OF the ~forsy-four States
have some modified form Of what is pop
ularly known as the Australian system
The main feature Of this system is that
it takes away from the party o~rgsniza-
tions or individual candidates the rights
TO furnish the tickets which are voted at
the election and requires the State to fur.
nish them.
As a general rule the names OF all the
candidates are printed on one ticket, and
the voter, after receiving such a ticket
from an election officer, goes into a closet
by himself and there indicates by pre-
scribed markes upon the ballot the names
Of the men for whom he wishes to vote,
returns to the place where the box is and
deposits his ballot. without the possibility
Of anyone knowing or ascertaining how
be voted.
This is the perfection Of the secret bal.
lot. 1t absolutely protects the voter
from intimidation, for he can vote exactly
as be plesses and the would.be intimida-
tor cannot know, or even guess, how the
man mas voted. And, while it does not
fully prevent bribery, it in a large meas
1re checks il. The briber cannot know
whether the bribee has delivered the
goods" and as such cattle are generally
paid for on delivery be will have to
rely upon the word OF a man whom he
knows to be a scoundrel as the warrant
for the payment of the money. And
nobody knows better than the political
br~ibe-giver that the word of a man who
will sell his vote is absolutely worthless.
Another good feature of the Australian
law is its prohibition against "heelers "
and strikers" swarming around the
polls and interfering with the voters and
The officers of election. Under the opera.
lion OF this dummy " becomes q thing
Of the past; there is no crowd of thugs,
soughs and "shoulder-hitters" surround
ing the box for the voter to force his way
through, hustling the determined and in.
simidating the timid. No man is al
lowed around the polls except to vote,
and that he must do at once and go away,
The rapidity with which the movement
has spread is something wonderful. In
less than FIVE years three-quarters Of ths
States have adopted laws modelled upor
the Australian system, and Indication
all point to the same action by the othel
quarter as fast as their Legislatures meet,