The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1900-11-10
THE NATTER OF VOTING.

buL #DGlOIG AL GlGGllDL1y GSPG1AdlAy
Just before an election, the minds of
numbers Of people otherwise all
right are not open to considera-
ton of how to vote. Just after the
election, however, they sometime
take stock of the situation, and for
the benefit Of those who do take
stock we offer the following, taken
from the Christian Register, on the
subject, How to Vote:
First, inte1ligently And this
means that they should not vote for
any candidate without a sincere at
tempt 10 understand the nature of
his claims upon their adhesion to
his side. It has been estimated
that more than fifteen million votes
will be cast for the several candi-
dates. It is discouraging to think
how small a proportion Of these
will be cast intelligently. For it is
not as if there were such a short cut
to intelligent voting as many per-
sons think. They regard it in this
way: Such or such a particular
way of voting is intelligent: there
fore, to vote this way is to vote in
diligently. But John Milton said
that a man may be "a hereto in the
truth if he holds it without good
and sufficient reason; and it is
equally true that man may support
acourse in politics which isthe most
intelligent of the several courses in
vitng the suffrages of the community
and not act intelligently. Have we
not known men supporting the
intelligent and sou nd political doc
trine with less intelligence than
that of those supporting the polit-
ical vagary? There can be no in
telligence where men do not think,
where men do not hear the other
side. And how large a proportion
of the great body of our voters do
this? They read and hear one
side, and that only. They read
their partisan newspaper, and they
follow that. IF 1t prints the OPP
posing candidate, the chances are
they will pass him by upon the
other side, as the priest and Levite
did the man who went down from
Jerusalem to Jerico. 1t is much
easier to proceed in this fashion
than to read both sides, and endeav-
or to strike balance of the oppos-
ing views. But, if we are going to
vote intel1igently, we must do this.
Second, we must vote indeben-
IDENTITY. That is the true conception
of political action which regards
political party as a railway train
whittier he desires to $3.50 far
and no farther. 1t is a profound
mistake 10 suppose that political
INDEPENDENCE is artainable only by
a few hundreds or thousands of pee
pie who are with neither party. A
man need not be any less an indie
pendent because he habitually acts
or votes with one party or another.
All that is necessary to make
man independent is for him to think
and act upon the basis of his own
intelligence and sense of right.
Moreover, there are degrees of in
dependency; and, if a man is thor
oughly convinced that one party or
the Other is generally trustworthy
and SO cleaves to that, he is, if not
SO independent as the man who
makes fresh judgment of theparty
every time, still independent in no
mean degree, It is ssthe man who
cleayes to either party simply be-
cause it is his party who lacks in
dependence altogether and who
lacks political morality. Not long
ago we came upon this political
wisdom: "The man who is too
honest TO vote with his own party
will probably be found stealing
things before long" 1t is hard to
say whether that is immoral or abb
surd. It is not the legitimate OBJ
ject of a political campaign to bring
- AZ Ox,a,z Co.,. $3.50. j.