The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-07-27


IS, ,TIJF RID
| the radical and labor members, are very
desiro,ls of haVingaaa change Ia the char
acter OF the registration laws giving ma AZ
hood suffrage and only one vote to seach
man Whole classes of individuals are dis
| franchised by the operation Of these laws
and not by any means the least, intell..-
gent Of the people, either. It is fact
that there are few ministers OF the Meth
! odist bodies In the country who.e ever have
right to vote, the itinerant system
rarely allowing them to be entitled to
| franchise. # S Y. 81 st hi
while there are many complaints about
the system Of registration there have
never, since the adoption Of the ballot,
been any flaws found In that method of
| voting and it Is as safe as any system Of
| ballot ever adopted, 1t being an absolute
| impossibility to ether change or discover
the manner in which a voter has voted.
| It differs mat te1tally from the American
form Of the ballot, though both possess
the same essential features. In the Brit
| ish form Of ballot paper the names OF the
candidates are printed In alphabetical
order and undern cath the surname Of each
| is printed III smaller type his full name,
occupation and address, the whole being
enclosed in rectangular figure COM
posed Of metal rules, while at the right
hand side Of the name is square. 81 in
which the voter may put a cross to in
dicate his choice. Of course as many
crosses must be made as there are seats
to be filed: but this does not now in any
case exceed two. There is never the
slightest attempt made to group the can
dilates under their politics and the voter
| must learn the position of the candidate
on the ballot paper before he can tell
where to put his cross. The proportion
of ballots spoiled now is very small, and
! where voter is unable to read he can
make a declaration ITO that effect to che
presiding officer, who marks his ballot
for him In the presence Of the representa-
tiyes of both candidates, who, however,
are bound to the strictest secrecy, and
heavy penalties are hanging over the
head of the man who betrays how an in
dividual voted. The class Of men who
are found in the polling booths is Of such
high standard that even if there We're
no penalty at all it would be rare taat
breach Of faith would be attempted. /.
In every polling district, correspond
ing to the American precinct, there are
| one presiding officer and one poll clerk
appointed by the returning officer whose
powers are approximately those OF the
board Of election commissioners IN this
country. The presiding officer receives
payment at q. county election OF $26.25 for
his days work and his poll clerk receives
$3.50. In borough the fees are lower,
amounting to SIG for the presiding Of
fcer and $5.25 for the poll clerk. In ad--
lition to these sums meals are usually al
lowed, these being provided from the
funds in the hands OF the presiding Of
ficer, or the officials receive sum OF 81
or 81 and provide their meals themselves
Besides the two officers named there are
also found in the polling place a police
officer and an agent representing each.of
the political parties engaged in the con-
test. These latter, II they are paid by
the candidates or their party, are not al
lowed to vote, but if they serve gratious-
ly they may exercise their constitutional
| privilege. The returning officers of
| ficials have the chance of voting il they
| feel disposed to exercise it.
list All the ballots used in the election are
numbered consecutively and about 500
are given to each presiding officer, who
! is compelled, under a penalty of $500, to
| af1ix his own stamp to each one used u.s.
| ing for that purpose either stamp sfnlil-
| ar to that used for sdefacing postage
| stamps, in which case the mark must be
made on both sides of the ballot paper,
or a perforating machine, either Of which
! is supplied at the discretion Of the re-
| turning officer, and the stamp is changed
| at every election This is a piece of red
tape which sometimes by the carelessness
Of the presiding officer costs a vote or
! two at an election, but at the same time
| it affords absolute security that there
shall be no talnpering with the manner
! in which vote is given for the voter de-
posits his own ballot paper in the box
! NO unoficially stamped ballot is ever
counted So that 1t may be determined
| in case of a scrutiny when it may be done
| by order Of the high court OF justice,
how particular vote has been cast when
| bribery is charged, the number Of the
voter is entered on a counter foil, and
| these counterfoils are kept for seven
years and then destroyed the same result
happening to the ballot papers
Another popularity of the English
! method Of conducting elections may be
| noted In the PRONUNCIATION Of a document
outlining his principles, which Is inyari-
ably issued by each candidate appealing
candidates address and at the close Of the
election the returning officer goes out in
| front of the building where the counting
has been done and announces to the as
sembled crowd the result Of the vote. The
counting for each constituency takes
place in some central building in the con-
stituep,cy's limits where the votes from
all polling districts are thoroughly mix
| ed before they are counted. Fl
| The earliest date on which the election
can occur in a. borougll'is four days after
the writ has been received by the. return
| ing officer and in a county an extra week
| is allowed. In the case of the Orkney an
Shetland Islands 1t will bea month be-
| fore the result of the election is known,
the district being SO scattered. These
laws do not apply to the Isle OF Man,
which has parliament and a constitu-
| tiun of its own. "a vi
A Bicycle i'm the Pulpit.
A Clergyman down in Holyoke, Mass,
has been preaching about the bicycle.
He had on 1.-The pulpit platform beside
! him a glittering. safety bicycle, with
which he made SO free that his hearers
| nomentarily expected to see him mount