Evening journal., 1908-12-29
voters, Aasistant Law.

--.~-n-------'--------
Voters Assistant Law.
Editor of THE EVENING JOURNAL;
The letter of Washington Hastings in
your paper Of Saturday last, discussing
Mr.. Saulsburys article on the repeal Of
the Voters Assistant Act, interested me.
Mr. Hastings observations are perth
nent as far as they go but they are Woe
fully inadequate and stop a thousand
miles short Of the true solution of the
problem.
The Voters Assistant Act as it has
been applied in our elections is the most
damnable piece of legislation ever en-
acted by our Legislature. 1t is a stand
ing disgrace to Delaware. Its defenders
can find no argument more convincing
than Senator Conner's famous remark
when I buy a horse 1 want my
horse"
The Voters Assistant Act provides the
machinery by which the vote-buyer may
operate with an absolute guarantee that
the votes he buys are delivered. It
places his agent I'm the booth to mark
ballots and to report to him those who
have delivered ths goods.
No man who is honest and at the same
time intelligent will deny this impeach-
ment. The writer was present a year
or two ago at a conference at which
ways and means for carrying a close
district were discussed. A leading poll
tician remarked: 1T all depends upon the
Republican Voters Assistant" Then,
after a minutes thought he said: IF
you can have me appointed as Voters AS
sistant l will guarantee that we will
win"
1t is not a complicated system; every
body in Kent and Sussex-and 1 suspect
in New Castle-knows how It is worked
The night before election the workers
are called together: each submits his list
of names. The amount of money to be
spent is already in hand. It is a sim.
pie thing to strike a dividend There IS
so much per head. and thus the exact
result is figured out in advance. But
there is just one piece Of machinery that
is lacking, somebody TO see the vote casf
and to act in the interests of the pur.
chaser. The State las provided this
piece of machinery at public expense
and thus guarantees that vote-buyins
shall be protected and the interests OF
the purchaser safeguarded. It is a specie,
of protection to home industries
And now I will attempt to show wherein
Mr. Hastings letter is totally Inadequate
He tells us how wicked the Democrat.
were when they were in power, all o.
which nobody very em7hatically denies
They passed the infamous assessmen
and collection laws; and so they did The,
enacted a law similar to the present Vot
ers' Assistant Act; and that is history
But the argument you're as bad as
. am and I'm just as good as you are
never leads to progress. Such discus
sons are as prohtless as religious contro
versies in which we hear: "You burn peo
pie at the stake" and the retort: "Yor
tore them to pieces on the rack"
In other words. If Democrats have en-
acted partisan legislation and Republi
cans have gone them one better, isn't
time for plain citizens to step in and in
sist on a little grain of decency at ou
elections?
I know that the small politician has hi
answer ready. AS concession to out
ragged decency he will say: "Oh. yes,
know there are abuses, but there are
great many voters who need assistanc
IN marking their ballots" Now don
be deceived by such special pleas A
a matter of fact the unlettered man rarel
spoils a ballot, even though left to him
self. lie has been taught to make a eros
( on the white star on the breast Of III
eagle or to mark the same sign i'm tn
/ square containing the plow. Anybod
can tell plow OF a bird without assist
ance-and the illiterate voter almos
without exception wishes to vote q
straight ticket.
But" objects the politician. ther
are men who are blind or PHYSICAL
incapacitatcd:" and he knows while n
says it that there was provision
the old law under which such a perso
, could call for any election officer {
assist him.
AS our election laws stand, the ma
who finds it most dificplt to vote
tho Independent citizen who carries h
brains and his conscience into IL
booth as his only assistants. lie is
hedged about with things he must II,
do. that he frequently walks out aft,
depositing his ballot not KNOWN
whether he has been disfranchised.
And when the ballots are read OF
E there are a bundle Of spoiled ballot
A and we know that they represent me
T. who were trying to do their duty
3 citizens. And in the list of straigl
T. tickets that are counted is every vO
that has been purchased. In son
districts the spoiled ballots equal {,
" per cent. of the entire vote, and it
* probably representative Of the highe
average of Intelligence and honesty
the community.
] Now the man who isn't blind know
N that there is revolution w6rkr