The Washington herald., 1908-03-22
SOCRATES LIFE VOTED AWAY
Choice by Lcaf-custom I'm Rome
where Pieces of Wood Were Used.
Endeayor to Procure Secrecy.
Bribery. of Voters Not Only Mod
ern ohense-Pnper Ballot Here.
By RUDOLPH DE zAPP.


the welfare OF the people is by no means
a custom OF modern times. but dates back
as far as the classical ages.
In ancient Greece the people had a way
of ostracising. or Smelling" a trouble
some man out of the city.
When two rival politicians had become
so violently opposed 10 each other thai
their seud threatened the public peace
Tor rendered the passage OF good measures
too difficult. the voters were called upon
TO decide which OF the two should leave
the city. Every citizen who chose 70
vote put into large metallic urn small
shell upon which he had written the name
OF the man whose banishment he pre-
ferred
Condemned 20 Exile.
If 5000 votes in all were cast. but not
otherwise. the shells were examined. The
man who had received the most votes
was condemned to ten years Of honorable
exile.
The historian Grote was Of the opinion
that this method often resulted adyan-
tageously. and saved Athens from civil
wars
In some ancient Mediterranean states
there was a variation upon the vote by
skells The voter wrote the name Of his
candidate upon an olive leaf This was
called petalism. or leaf voting, just as
the shell method was called osuacism.
from Greek word signifying a little
she'll
The great jury. hundreds in number
which condemned Socrates @ drink the
hemlock, voted in another way Those
who desired his death east into a brass
box a little ball OF metal or stone, which
was either black in color or pierced
through the middle.
Those who voted for his acquittal threw
into the same box white bail. or one
not pierced. There was q small majority
OF black balls. and thus he was doomed
10 die.
At the present time. in club elections.
/ the same simple method is often used. A
/ defeated candidate Is referred TO as hav-
ing been -blackballed." This way of vot-
/ ing was probably one Of the earliest at
tenlpts 20 secure secrecy.
As IL Was Done I'm Rome.
The Romans had some interesting
modes Of voting. When law was sub
mitted to the people TO ratify or reject.
each citizen received two small, square.
smooth pieces Of wood. called tabeIlae. or
I tablets.
/ On one OF these was written the letter
| A. which stood for antique. I reject
On the other were Two letters, L. R,
which stood for .'Uu Rogas.~ part OF
the Latin sentence. Ego hanc legem utl
rogas ju5endam censeo. 4 think that
this law should be ratified as you pro-
/ pOse; or. in other words let il pass"
] One OF these tablets the voter put into
a large bronze urn provided for the pur-
pose which he could do secretly II he
wished. The question WIS decided by a
majority Of the votes.
In similar manner the judges in court
OF justice gave their decisions. after hear
! ing the testimony To each judge were
given three tablets. one marked A. which
meant absolvo, 1 acqult; another was
marked c. which meant -OndemnO. / con-
deinn; the third was marked n. l.. stand
ing for non liquet. that is. II does not
appear, meaning ! am in doubt.
With these tablets the judges voted
/ When the votes were all in. II there was
/ a plurality OF absolyos. the accused was
set free. II the condemnos prevailed. he
was condemned II the non liquets had
/ it, it was about equivalent to a disagree
ment of the jury
Secrecy Was Desired.
The object OF all these simple expedients
was to give the voter perfect freedom by
making his vote secret But at an early
period INSCRIPTIONS politicians found
means both to intimidate and bribe the
voters. Long ago as the trial of Socrates, /
B. c. 800, voters were bribed In what
the Greeks styled dekads. or tens
Greek students turning to the diction-
1T,
word deka which means ten, a number
Of verbs. nouns. and adjectives which tell
a melancholy story of Grecian politics: !
for they indicate that brfbing voters ten
in lump was quite familiar TO the Athen- !
ians.
II is 10 be feared that corrupt voting
is almost as ancient a practice as vot- /
ing itself This may be inferred from a |
considerable number of ancient methods /
for preventing fraud
In some countries OF Southern Europe, |
instead of voting by shells, leaves. or
tablets. which could be concealed about /
the person in great numbers, and put into |
the urn surreptitiOUsly, the voters were
required to use wands or rods five or |
six feet long. These were deposited in |
long box through small slit in the /
I'D.
AS no man could conceal a stick six
feet long. the voters were prevented from
casting more than one vote
To-day as in Old Days.
Even at the present day the people OF
Greece vote with black balls and white |
balls. as their forefathers did. although
with special precautions against bribery |
and fraud. The duty of voting is in
vested with solemnity by opening the
polls in the church and on Sunday.
Entering the edifce. the voter sees be-
fore the altar as many boxes as there
are candidates to be voted for. each box
being divided into two compartments
one painted black and the other white /
clerk comes TO him with a wooden
bowl full Of bullets, from which the
voter is given as many bullets as there
are candidates. a
To conceal from the bystander how ne /
votes. the elector thrusts his hand down
a long funnel and drops one bullet into
each box. If he wishes 10 vote Yes"
he puts mis- bullet into the white half of
the box; If NO" he puts it into the black
half.
In order to protect the freedom Of the
paral elections. and 10 put an end to the
scandalous disorder which frequently ac- {
companied them, Pope Nicholas II de-
creed. in 1858, in future the election OF /
the Roman pontiff and the administra-
ton Of his See. during the vacancy.
should be the exclusive right OF the cardi- /
nails of the Roman church In 1179. Pope
Alexander III solennly confirmed the
decree of Nicholas. which prescribed
that a two-thirds vote should be neces-
sary to a valid choice.
Difference Of Results.
Meanwhile no. statute existed compen-