The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-13

Each New Instrument Is to Cost
S5OO-Has Been Used With Sue
cess.
A novel method Of registering votes was
tried last week in BufraIo. The device is
called a ballot machine and while it had
never been tried IN a city the size Of Buff
falo, IT had met wftiIegreat success in
Rochester and 4he ssmaller towns of the
state ofsNeW York
Buffalo bought 10 of the Standard
voting machines, paying $500 apiece for
them. A sample machine was set
up in the city clerks office, and City
Clerk Frank Gethofer and his deputy,
William Corcoran, were kept busy from
morning until night explaining its work
tngs to callers, who came not only from
all parts of the city, but from every sec
ton of New York and from across the
border in Canada. +-s~.e-
The eyes Of the whole state were on
this city on election day, for it is con-
ceded that if the machines stand the
test and the voting passes off without a
hitch, the adoption of the system
throughout the state, and even in greater
New York, is only a question of time
TRYING TO BEAT IT.
Some of the practical politicians have
spent many hours@gotng over the mech
anism of the sample machine in the city
hall and have had expert mechanics ex-
amine-it~ and report to them their conf
Dental opinionss There is no use dis
guising the fact that wicked men still
this as well as nearly every other mu-
nicipality, and the chief interest Of these
men is not how well will the machines
work, but how can they be beaten"
They started In on the assumption that
there never was an election law or reg
ulauon that could not be beaten, and
they still believe, many of them, that a
way will be found to beat the voting
machine. There have been many confer
ences on this subject, and it has inter-
ested the decent men as well as those
who need only the opportunity to stuff
ballot boxes. So far no one has discov-
cred the weak point in the machines, if
there be one
1t appears to possess all the advantages
claimed for it, absolute secrecy and ac
curacy in registering the vote In addi-
ton the system of voting is simple, and
man who IS intelligent enough to rec
ognlze the emblem at the head Of a print
ed ballot will have no trouble In turning
lever under a similar emblem on the
face Of the machine. The machine pro-
VideS for split tickets independent nom
nations and everything that a printed
ballot displays. Voting by machine Is
rapid, and the amendment Of the ballot
law adopted last winter and the
winter before recognized this in provid-
Ing that the voter may not remain In the
booth longer than one minute
WILL SAVE MONEY.
Notwithstanding the cost of the ma
chimes, $500 each-and Buffalo has snen+
$4,000 for them-the money will he saved
In four years by the reduction in other
election day expenses. The rapiditv with
which the machine will receive and record
votes has enabled the city to reduce the
number of polling places from 1855 to 1OS
This means the saving on election day of
the expenses of forty-seven polling places
rent, salaries of inspectors, ballot clerks
and printing, delivery of ballots. etc, Ii
reduces at once the annual expense of
an election nearly one-third. The munich
PAL council, which decided on adopting
the new system only after a careful av
animation, said in it's report:
The number of voting machines ron
CenpIated to be purchased by the civ of
Buffalo would be paid. for in about fonr
years; thus at the end of that time This
municipality would own $55, 900 worth of
personal property and each and every
year thereafter would save about s13 200
The primaries can undoubtedly also be
conducted by using voting machines,
which would preclude the necessity of
having unsightly voting booths uDon our
streets. The savings in the use of voting
machines from the. expense of the nrsS7
ent methods in four years will pay for
these machines
USED WITH SUCCESS.
1.-THE Standard voting machine bae
- been approved by the state voting ma
chine commission and was used with
great success in. seventy-three election
districts in the city of Rochester, and was
highly commended by the mayor, city