Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1902-10-02
PENNYPACKEK IN BUTLER.


w station last Friday evening, waited
for an hour on delayed train, and ther
gave Judge Pennypacker and his party
a hearty welcome to Butler.
They came in from Sharon and Mercer
ON the Bessie" supped at one OF oui
hotels. and then repaired to the Opera
House, where large audience had as
sembled to see, hear and greet them.
After music by the band DIR. Leighnei
called the meeting to order, Col Thomp-
son was elected to preside, and a long
list of v. Ps. and secretaries named.
Col. Thompson opened with a few
glowing and eloquent remarks on the
prosperity of the Nation, and the glory
Of the flag, and then introduced Judge
Pennypacker, who spoke. as follows;
1T is not my purpose to endeavor to
entertain you with display OF VII OF
eloquence, but rather to reason with you
and to do what can to sustain you III
the support of the principles OF the he-
publican party. / propose TO DISCUSS
with YOU for a brief time tonlgnt the
much -mooted question of ballot REFORM
a question to which our worthy oppo-
nents seem to devote the most attention.
am inclined to the belief their interest
in the matter is not so much because OF
an effort to better our own condltion, as
it is the hope that some device VIII De
discovered by means of which the ma
jority party may have Increased diincul-
fies in polling their votes and having
them counted so that the minority party
NAV thus diminish to that extent the
distance between them.
II am inclined to this belief for the
reason that in a large number of States
in the Nation the Democratic party is in
control. and there they do not hesitate
to avow their purpose to prevent large
proportion of the citizens from voting at
all. And that purpose they have ex-
pressed, not only in Legislation, but in
constitutional provisions. have OBJ
served that the distinguished gentleman
who leads the opposition party and who
is seeking for an election as Governor,
while spending days and nights in de-
ncr-cing the people of the great State
fhat hesnepcs'so govern. has no words
of condemnation or these more pro-
nounced efforts in the Democratic
States.
.aThe existing law upon the subject in
Pennsylvania was devised in the inter
est of reform by others than politicians,
and it was based upon system which
has been tried in Australia. 1t was
thought that by placing the names OF
all nominees of all parties upon one
ballot; by segregating the voters IN
separate booths where each one could
mark privately the names OF the nomi-
nees for whom he intended to vote, and
by printing the ballot and giving him
number, fraud could be eliminated, in
fuence be overcome and safety assured.
"The gentleman who was then the
Governor of the State, looking to the in
terests of the Commonwealth as well as
to the interest of the Democratic party,
which he represented, approved OF the
bill and under his signature it became
law. think it must be admitted that
the plan which was intended to aid in
eliminating indecent voting has in
practice worked just the other way, not
because the means are not provided, but
because the complications are such that
the ordinary voter will not make the
effort necessary to utilize them. Con-
fronted with huge ballot and numbers
of names and fearful of making mis-
take when left to himself. he escapes
the difficulty by simple plan of mark
ing a cross mark at the head of the
party ticket. And that is the end of it.
In my opinion the out-cry about frauds
at the elections in very much exaggcr-
ating the actual situation.
II have heard much about it and
have read the speeches of the distin-
guished gentlemen of the Opposition
party and / have read the editorials in
their newspapers and that is my con-
clusion They are slleP ed to occur
mainly in the good, old, b onest Quaker
city of Philadelphia. and to be due to
two causes, the padding of the registra-
ton lists and the sruffing of ballot
boxes,
Now. then, think that if you are
disposed to look at the matter reason
ably you can see that there is compar-
itively little foundation for the charges
made. At least this is my conclusion.
IL at any time on election day L fail to
cast my vote until night some indus
trious man comes to my house, rings
my door bell and asks me to get to the
polls and vote. You have seen out here
in the country districts where these in
dustrious persons travel for miles to get
the reluctant voter to cast his ballot.
What would be the use of the men
doing this if they had the means to stuff
the ballot boxes?
For ID years, as a judge OF the
Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia
it has been my duty with other judges
to count the votes cast. During all that
time. while instances have been quite
frequent in the mistakes in the papers
the instances Of actual fraud have been
exceedingly few and / am satisfied from
my experience and it is also the ex-
perience of Judges Gordon, Arnold
and Mccarthy, who represented the
minority party, that this is the case.
If such frauds existed, as has been al
legged, you would certainly have heard
of them.
ut is also said that the assessors had
the registration lists fixed, but if such
was the case there was a remedy in the
courts for them. In the latest census
returns it was reported just how many
male citizens and how many naturaliz-
ed citizens there were in Philadelphia,
and they numbered 1922, 959 Now the
registration lists made up by the as
SCISSORS numbered 320, 422 so that instead
of the assessors having registered q
greater showing by padding of the list,
the number was less than the report OF
the census showing the number entitled
to vote.
cat the election of District Attorney
John Weaver last year the number OF
votes cast was 81, 900 below the registra-
tion. Is it not plain to you that it would
be utterly futile to pad the lists when
there il such a difference between the
registration and the voters who vote.
Why should the lists be padded when
there was margin of 91 900 from which
they might haye called, and yet failed
to do so? While it does not govern the
whole ground, it amounts to demon
stration.
"There are people who are prope rly
dissatisfied with the ways the reform
ballot law has worked. 1t is to my in
terest, it is to your interest, and it is tc
the interest Of every good citizen thai
every precaution should be taken upon
this delicate question. 1t may well be
said that the whole fabric of our govern
ment rests upon getting out the vote OF
all citizens, and any measure which i:
proper should receive the support OF
every man interested in the welfare OF
our government. 1t seems to me that
such question should be settled in a
business-like manner.
'My method would be to select fore
most lawyer in whom everyone has con.
fidence in the ranks of the Republican
party, and likewise one selected from
the ranks of the Democrats and let them
come together and consult with the
r,ractical men of the party taking ideas