The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-06-16
BALLOT REFORM
WAS DISCUSSED
REPRESENTATIVE MEETING
HELD YESTERDAY.

HELD YESTERDAY.
Over Fifty of the City's Most Prom
inent Citizens Gathered in the
Board of Trade Rooms and Lis
tened to Addresses by Cyrus d.
Floss and G. r. Woodruff, of Phila-
delphia, Representing the Ballot
Reform Association Resolutions
Adopted by Meeting.
That Scranton is thoroughly alive to
the necessity of arousing a greater
public interest in the question of bal
lot reform and of impressing upon the
members of the state legislature the
great and pressing need Of passing
ballot reform laws, was clearly DEM
onstrated yesterday afternoon, when
over fifty of the most representative
citizens in the city, both clergymen
and laymen, gathered In the board OF
trade rooms and took active steps
toward the furtherance of this move
ment in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
After the meeting had been called
to order, Colonel II. NJ. Boles was
unanimously chosen chairman and j.
w. Browning secretary. There were
two very earnest and thoughtful ad-
dresses made by two well-known gem
t,emen from Philadelphia, which city
is the home of the Pennsylvania Bal
lot Reform association, under whose
auspices the meeting was held. These
II
of Bishop Foss and the secretary of
the union committee of the associa-
ton, and clinton Rogers Woodruff,
the secretary of the National Munic-
iral league. The stories they told of
election frauds in the city of Broth
erly Love" were enough to make "the
quilts Of the fretful porcupine to stand
on end
MIR. FOSS' ADDRESS.
Mr.. Foss, who spoke first, is a very
enthusiastic young man, who mas
gone into this mov ement because he
believes it to have been his moral
duty to do so. He commenced by
stating that in this present age stren-
uous, active men are not willing to
chase will-o'-the- -wisps and that any
object or end held up for their con-
sideration must be one that will have
personal and an imn ediate applica-
tion. This ballot reform movement,
he mGintained, Is something that ap-
pcals TO every honest, conscientious,
fearless man, no matter how active q
life he may lead.
He stated that conservative public
men ard careful newspaper writer's
have estimated that from 10000 votes
upward cast at every election in Phil
adelpha represent fraud. 1T is not
SD much the rascality of theft in pub
lie office or the corruption in legis-
lative bodies that should make the
blood OF every American tinge," said
he, "as it is this robbing of his fran
chise guaranteed him by the consti-
tutor"
He pointed out that though the great
and barefaced corruption may be
largely confined to Philadelphia and
Pittsburg Just now, the danger lies
in infection. Coming down to individ-
ual instances he told of one agent of
the association who during recent
election was posted as "a watcher at
one Of the polls. When he went to
| dinner he had counted 133 men as hav-
| ing voted already. Upon his return in
then being voted was number 237 and
| people had voted.
DUMPED IN A LUMP.
This meant that 100 ballots, a whole
| package, had been dumped in lump
| into the box. '"fhe only way to cure
| such fraud as this" said he, "is to
| open the ballot boxes, but we all know
| how hard that is to accomplish. We
| have had some extraordinary cases in
| Philadelphia, where we have actually
| succeeded in opening them with very
malodorous results"
Mr.. Foss did not enter into the sub
| iect as exhau5tively as did Mr.. Wood
ruff. who followed him. Mr.. Woodruff
| looks very much like Governor
| Teddy" Roosevelt did in his younger
| days, He is tall, wears nose glasses
with n black cord, and a vast amount
| ot earnest feeling pervades everything
| he says.
| In opening his remarks he likened
| the state 20 q mass of sensitized jelly,
one part of which bt inf touched the
| movement is telt in every other part.
He said it behooyed every citizen of
the state to place her where she be-
longs and here she could be, were
| conditions not as they are, namely,
| in the very forefront of the election
reform movement, so that each man
might have the privilege of a free,
fair ana equa; election"
This ,s a concrete condition of af-
| fairs which confronts u.s." said he,
land not something which we imagine
| is going On. The union committee is
| endeavorIng to awaken the public TO
| the conditions which exist. We do not
claim that this ballot reform law
which we are striving to have passed
| is a panacea for all evils. Such a
measure could not be drawn up, as we
are but poor finite creatures not pos
sessing lnfinity. We do claim, how
ever that it will go very far towards
remedying present conditions.
DUTIES OF REGISTERS.
"Under the present law a man called
| the register of voters goes out on
the first day of every May and De-
cember and writes down the names
of all the voters in his district. II
this man is honest everything is all
right, but If he is dishonest everything
is all wrong and we know that there
are Just a few dishonest men left In
| this world
1T has been demonstrated TO a cer-
tainty that under the present system
| of registering voters, great frauds in
the line of repeating may be easily
| accomplished. When the registry list
Is padded the padded names are, OF
course. voted on by these repeaters
| Just think of those 20G extra names