Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-07-18

bilities is dead indeed"
He contended that the ideal American
citizen must be a man of uncompro-
missing integrity.
Continuing, he said: "The applica-
tion of this requirement Of personal in
tegrity is exceeding broad. 1t must
cover every duty and every department
OF life. IL must prevail at the ballot
box no less than at the place Of business.
There is an increasing number Of people
who do not appreciate its relation to the
casting of ballot. Not long ago
heard woman of good sense and judg-
ment in most things say, If | had
vote / know should sell it, If the mat
ter at issue was one about which l was
not much concerned. In fact never
could see why man should not sell his
vote as freely as anything else he owns
Last winter business man In Dover
was reported to me to have said that 1t
is no more wrong to buy and sell votes
than it is to buy and sell horbes.' And
from tho New York Christian Adgocate,
some time since, | clipped thd following
question, which was evidently put in
good faith. is il wrong for apoor mem
ber of the NJ. Il. church tb accept
liberal amount of money for Voting at the
coming elections, provided the money is
used for benevolent purposefT ltwould
seem from these instances that great
many people are blind to- the sin and
degradation of buying andselling votes.
Indeed, it is freely asserted or confessed
by men of different political faiths, that
thousands of men in Delaware, as well
as elsewhere, stand ready to barter and
sell their manhood in this way when
ever q wealthy and INSCRIPTIONS aspir-
ant 10 office can be found to supply the
funds, and it is also sdid that no man
need now expect high office unless he
has money for use at elections. Now l
am sure that all of us are fully agreed
that 1t is sin and crime TO buy or
sell vote. But II weIwere asked why
il is wrong, perhaps We could not say
Just why. Let US then try to formulate
an answer. II is wrong for at least two
reasons, as it seems tome: Because of
the nature of the transaction itself, and
because of its terrible results. Look at
the thing in itself. What does a vote
meanp What is itg What does lido? The
dictionary says that a vote IS the ex-
preston of wish, dEsire, will, prefer
ence or choice in regard to any measure
proposed, in which the person voting
has an interest ih common with
others, either in electiDg man to
Office or passing upon laws, rules,
regulations, and the like That
is, when a man votes he expresses
his conviction that one particular man is
the best man for certain office; or his
conviction that some particular law or
policy is a good law or policy for the
community. The Importance, or the
solemnity of the thing is well conveyed
by the word itself Vote, as no doubt
you know, comes to us from the Latin
word votum, vow. In Shakespeare's
time it meant just this in English. In its
very name the act means something
more than the tingling wish of the
moment. II is the solemn expression of
mans best judgment; it is his recorded
and deliberate conviction that one man
will rule better than another, or that the
community needs particular policy, or
kind of legislation for its best good.
Now, shall man sell his judgment
Shall man auction off his convictions
to the highest bidderg A vote is not
property, il is something higher and
purer than this. 1t is the highest privi-
lege voter has and it involves the most
solemn obligation. 1t is an opinion, and
| opinions that are in the market are not
opinions at all. II is conviction, and
convictions are the expression of a
mans soul. Such high and serious
thing is the ballot. 1t is the sign and
symbol OF American manhood. For a
man to sell it, is to sell his manhood and
his precious honor
mot lightly fall, without recall,
The written scrolls breath may float;
The crowning fact, the kingliest act
of freedom is a freeman's vote.
"This is one reason why it is wrong
to bribe and be bribed. But further
than this is the result of the practice.
What will men bring about by buying
and selling yotesg The effect of it is to
make cattle Of citizens; to make the in.
calculable boon of civil privilege com
putable in terms of dollars and whisky;
to convert citizenship into commodity;
TO make shambles out of every polling
place; TO augment prodIgiously the mum.
ber of low grade tallow peddlers, who
care for the country only as rats care
for the corn bin; to put our institutions
and our people at the mercy of hungry
and wicked demagogues; to sap the
foundations of the republic, and bring
in anarchy and universal ruin. The
evil effect of the use of money in elec.
tions cannot be confined within the
bounds of any one party. II debauches
not only those who actually buy aud
sell, but all otherwise honest citizens
who see and condone the crime. 1t eau
not be confined to one party, nor car
any fraud on elections, such as the dis
franchisement OF legal voters, be CON
fined to one party, for the other party
as parties are to-day, is sure to meet
fraud with fraud on the plea that the
devil eau only be fought with fire
That both parties are guilty alike only
makes the matter worse. The purity
OF the ballot is vital TO the interests o
free government, Compared with thi;
all other interests are secondary. Dis
asters may come to the country through
unwise policies, but supreme disaster
can come only as the result of thi
trading in votes, which defeats the will
Of the people. subverts the ends o
government, destroys popular conf
science. II is the most serious peri
to which we are exposed and perhap
the only peril, except general goddess
ness, which would be really fatal t,
the country. You SEQ, then, do yo'
not, why it is impossible for man Il
buy or sell vote and still preserve tn
integrity and honesty which must char
acterize the ideal citizen | think thi
is plain. | wish it was as plain Il
every American man that an American
citizen cannot wink at such practice
and yet retain his integrity. Next t
the wickedness of being a party TO tn
barter Of vote is the wickednes
! OF permitting II to be done with