The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-24
ABOUT FREQUENT ELECTIONS.

so. Again we give them briefly and
hope to see some action taken by the
present Legislature that will put cleo
tions less frequent.
/. THE EXPENSE The expense Of
general election in North Carolina is
simply enormous. 1t is two-iold, but
narrows down to dollars and cents, after
all. The expense incurred by an cleo
ton is in actual expenditures Of money
and in loss OF time. Say there are III
round numbers 400, 900 voters in North
Carolina. Election day is now practl
caly wholly lost from work and busl
ness by every voter in the State. Now,
it is fair estimate to put every mans
time at one dollar for that day To be
sure, many are not worth 50 much, but
as many are worth more 80 we call
election day lost by 100000 voters at
cost of 100000 from work and bus
mess.
For at least two months previous to
the election there are constantly as
many as fifty speakers in the field every
day-twenty-fve for each party They
are generally the very ablest men that
can be secured, and their time is worth
on an average s. day. That is $3.50
day to be charged for the time OF
fifty speakers for at least fifty days,
which makes 800 Their travelling
and other expenses average 20 day
each and that is $4,000 more. This
puts the cost of the speakers for cam
paign at 5000.
| devotes one day to hearing the discus
sions of "the issues of the day." This
makes another 100000. These figures
| make the cost OF an election 1928, 900.
But there has been no estimate made
for paying postage for the great flood
of correspondence that is carried on by
each political party during campaign,
nor for the cost of printing ballots for
these 100000 voters, the extra work of
going to the county seats, making re-
turns, travelling to and from conven-
tons, &c. All these put together, we
can easily see that it costs North Caro-
lima at least one million of dollars every
two years to hold elections.
| Now, these figures apply to only what
can be seen and easily calculated by
any one, to say nothing OF the thou
sands of dollars expended that the
bright, broad daylight knows nothing
about. And most of this expenditure
Is drawn one way or another from the
men who can i'll afford it.
| 2. DEMoRILIZATrON. With gener-
al election every two years, the people
hardly get settled from the effects Of
one before the forces must begin to
muster for the next fray. And so we
have it all the time The people of
North Carolina have scarcely seen a
single year since the close of the war
when there was not some political
strife in the State Strife either grow
ing out of the effects of an election Just
past, or growing out of the one Just
ahead All this is demoraizing, terri
bly, demorallzing. 1t has a tendency
to keep the people disturbed and dis
contented. 1t is source of many riots
and oftentlmes blood-shed.
| 1t keeps the fires of envy and malice
that grow out of personal difference in
political opinions forever aglow. 1t
saps the contentment, and therefore,
the happiness of the people, and works
or, ! harm in the everlasting furry
| tina ZONES through the excitement of
heated campaigns.
3. INCONVENIENCE. As to county
officers, they sometimes barely learn
the routine duties Of their office before
another man is elected, the Office chan
ges hands, and all is done over anew by
the new officer. Thus, books and
papers and records and what not are
always more or less uncertain and I'M
| satisfactorily kept. By the time an
| officer learns his business he frequently
has to step out and let some one else
learn and so the Office is all the time
/ being handed from one to another. and