The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-11-02
REV. DIR. M'LANE'S SERMON
"THE BANE AND THE BLESSINGS OF
THE BALLoT," HIS SUBJECT.


ing<Evils of Government by the Ballot
A Temptation to Ambitious and Selfish
Men-Business Questions Ought Not to
be Settled by Ballot.
At Plymouth church last evening the
pastor, Rev. DR.. w. w. McLane,
preached a sermon of much interest,
especially at the present time, on 1.-The
Bane and the Blessing of the Ballot"
DR.. McLanes text was Rev. ", 10, "And
hast made us unto our God kings and
priests; and we shall reign on the
earth" In the course of the sermon
DR.. McLane said:
lone of the evils of government by
the ballot is that it tempts selfish and
ambitious men to seek office, not by
proving themselves to be leaders of the
thought and action of the people, but
by promising to conform to the wishes
of the people, even when those wishes
are not wise.
"a man who holds his position either
by birth or by some choice which en-
thrones him for life is freed from such
u
which, in his judgment, is for the best
interest of those whom he governs. One
of the things from which we have suf-
fered much in our municipal govern
ments, and In our higher governments
also, has been the fact that the first
question with many office seekers has
been, How shall obtain office? And
the second has been like unto it, viz,
How shall I retain office? They have
been the obedient servants of those who
had the power to place them in office
even when the service rendered was not
the best for the people. Sometimes
even candidates Of high rank maintain
a sublime silence upon questions of
great Importance until they learn how
their party proposes to speak, and men
whose opinions are supposed to carry
great weight show a remarkable facil-
ity In changing their opinions with the
varying current of party thought. The
ballot, therefore, often fails to produce
the highest type of leaders 1t is to the
credit and will be to the lasting honor
of the present president that he has
never feared to utter his convictions or
failed to maintain this aim, though de-
feat or rejection by his own party
might be the result.
Another evil Of the ballot Is that it
ternpts political speakers to appeal al
most wholly at times, to the selfish in
terests Of the voters. This Is one of the
things which makes political speeches
so often offensive to the minds of can
did men, Men are told that voting with
a certain party will increase their crops
or raise their wages, or prove beneficial
to their section of the country. This
evil reaches its climax when even the
votes of the lawless are solicited by the
insertion Of certain planks in a party
platform or by the speeches of political
orators.
another evil of the ballot lies in the
fact that it sometimes throws a great
and important business question into
the political arena for settlement by
show of hands. -Four years ago the
question of protection was thus decid-
ed or it's decision attempted. This
year the question of our system OF
finance is to be thus voted upon. 9th
err questions enter into the campaign,
but this is the one question upon which
the battle Of ballots is fought.
..Although many men will simply
vote with their party, the issue of the
election will probably be regarded as
popular decision on this great subject.
Now, it Is true that many men speak
of this matter as though it could be
settled by answering the single ques-
ton. Can government create value by
a legislative fat? And some ministers
have preached about it as though they
had found some law of coinage among
49, I1erct
in the sermon on the mount.
''But national system of finance Is
not simple thing. Any man who
reads widely will, I think, come to that
conclusion. I do not hesitate to say
that the great majority of men who
never gave the matter any thought I'M
til four months ago are not competent
to decide so great and so grave q mat
ter. And the danger is that the present
popular vote will determine for some
time to come the judicial system of our
country, even though that decision
might prove to be detrimental to the
best interests of the country.
''rhe ballot is confession of faith
in the people. 1t is a practical express
sion of the opinion that honesty and
wisdom and justice will be found in
the people. I have been impressed in
reading the Bible how often rulers have
been withheld from wicked conduct be-
cause they feared the people If on the
one hand we could write a list of all
the wars which have been undertaken
for conquest and for the advantage of
rulers and rich men from the invasion
of Gaul by Caesar to the invasion of
the Transvaal by Dr. jameson, and on
the other hand we could place list of
all wars inaugurated by the people, I
think we would conclude that on the
whole the people are peace loving and
Just and that when they undertake war
it lis, as in the case of our Revolution,
for the removal of some wrong or for
the advantage of the common people.
The exceptions to this rule would be
few.
1.-THE ballot is educational in it's eff
feet. God has not limited his educa-
tional forces in this world to one thing,
like the church, but He has many
forces-labor and love, the family and
the state-to educate men to manhood
and to self-government. Among all
educational forces of modern times, the
ballot is a. potent power. 1t sets men
thinking. It awakens discussion. 1t