Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-03-23
A Word for JudRe Wheeler.

We are under no retainer or commission 10
enter any plea in defense of Judge Wheei'
er's refusal to enter booth when ne MARKS
his ballot. What we say is prompted soieiy
by respect for the man. Our acquaintance
with him has been quite thorough, and ne
has often been q subject of study, until
we have come to look upon him as one OF
that few remaining number Of the staid old
time class of such reserved dignity and IN
denendent manhood that the idea of sneaklng
| around behind screen when he casts ms
ballot is SO utterly repugnant to MS sense
Of self-respect that he cannot be brought into
! line.
when we who are of New England blood
ava narentage ask ourselves How would our
fathers have characterized such procedure
fifty years ago2'' well may we experience q
feeling of self-reproach as we step pehiho
the cover to deposit our vote. Ihey giorieo
in the openness of the act, and oftentimes
,bev would consent to use no ballot but what
they. themselves, individually wrote. And II
was n matter Of pride with them to walk
nm IN the table in the center of the hall, and
in sight of all deposit their ballots-a PRIV
lepe which some say is guaranteed to us by
onr constitution today-as one of the inalIen'
able rights of freemen. There was man
hood and quiet dignity about that metnod
Of procedure quite different from craving
hob;nd n screen, and, as is quite often the
case Inv a single mark voting the whole state
and county ticket, so that often many oil the
present-day voters, after they have emerged
! from their booth, are unable to tell the name
of single person. not even the go'erhor
for whom they have voted.
| would not myself by this contend that
wa should abolish the Australian system.
Onr civilization has become so congested'
our manner of living so artificial, our OPP
nortunities for independent thought and ac-
tion so limited, that very probably something
Of the kind is advisable; but let us rever-
ence, rather than decry, any last remaining
vestige of that grand old class, destined SO
soon to become extinct who like Judge
Wheeler refuse to bend their necks to the
yoke. :. =.
Yet if we are to retain this system, let US
make IT, so far as we can, Respectable. Is
there single point to be advanced IN 1aVor
Of voting a whole freeman's ticket by a
single mark, except that thereby party lines
can he kept more tightly drawn; that there
Inv candidates who would lose upon ques'
t;on of personal merit can be counted in upon
question of party fealtyG Is Vermont re-
ublicanism SO nearly Overthrown that II
needs such safeguard as thisY
! large number of our county senators owe
their election every session solely to the fact
that the county ticket is yoked to the state
t;cket and the legislators refuse to remedy
This evil because so many of them have re-
ceiyed. or expect to receive, personal benent
thereby
As it is, the chief object of the Australian
ballot is defeated and there is less inde-
pendence in the present system OF Young
than in the old one. If we cannot Just yet
90 so far as we should and insist upon a
separate mark for each candidate, as in Mas
sachusetts. we can at least separate our state
and county tickets. The present method
cuts off all chance for independence with
the average voter and this by deliberate de-
sign upon the part of hide-bound party
bosses. 1t is makeup of extreme party
bigotry and exclusiveness and absolutely
makes our party conventions, ruled as they
often are, especially in our counties, by de-
grading bossism, the sole dictator
am ashamed of my native state when !
realize that it could ever have even attempt
cd TO establish such a degrading procedure,
utterly repugnant to every sense OF fairness
and the square deal. There is no true re-
nublicanism or democracy in it.
But the dawn of another day is ahead OF
MS. Look you. We who stand upon the
maintain tops can even now see the REDEEM
;nr in the eastern skies. The day of party
bosses is well nigh ended. Within half
decade the whole gang will be overthrown
and it will be done largely through the same
spirit that prompts Judge Wheeler to vote
in the open. NJ. J. Hapgood.
peru, w.t. March 20, 1906.