The Nome daily nugget., 1918-03-11

When we consider the PrusSion po- litical machine 1t puts to blush all the machine politics with which we are acquainted It Is there that Prus- sion eflciency shows itself most bril- ilantly. The avowed intention of the popular self government. As matter of fact, the Prussian people have less real voice in their government than a Republican of this country has in the government of the Southern States, Prussia is divided into electoral dis tricts, called Zerkel, and these are sub divided into what we would call wards or townships, and which are designat- ed by Prussia as Crwalbezirlie. In these latter every male citizen over 24 can vote, not directly for an officer as we do, but for an elector who rep rcscnts 250 voters. This is the first representation of the popular will, be- cause the Wahhnann, as he is called, is the candidate furnished by the men higher up for the people to vote for.
 Again, the voters are divided into three classes according to the amount of taxation they pay that is, the en- tire Eaxes received are divided by three. Those who pay the first third elect one-third of the council or what. ever is the object of the election; those paying the second third elect another third of the council, while the third third elect the remaining third. That is, supposlng there arc nine officers to be voted for and there are 100 voters in the district. We will say that six men pay one-third of the whole taxes. These six men, therefore can elect three of the officers, while the second third, whom we will say is made up of IS men who pay one third of the taxes, also elect three The remainder of the voters, or 76 elect the remaining third. There is no such thing in Germany as "one man, bHc NObc- 4NOi btiNAS 7"~AA ~ N@''%-o as a secret ballot. They retain the viva voce method of our grandfothers. The voter must go into a room where the chairman nspects his name In the reg istcr, examines the identification card which the voter must bring with him and then requires him to designate in
 tot,n aVNh the man he votes for for the particular office. Tho result is all the vices which compelled the giving up of the viva voce vote in this country.
 Intimidation in every form is prac- ticed by the Prussian political machine. The voter from factory is certain to found seated in the room listening to him, either his employer of one of his henchanen, who note carefully the way he has cast his vote The Conservu- tiyes insist upon the retention of this unsatisfactory method because they want to control the vote. They con- tend contend that 1t Is free from the repeating. bailot-suppression and per sonation which are too common in American elections. The Wahlnlann who is elected casts his vote in sort of electoral college for Deputies to the Landtag. Bismarck, iron autocrAt that he was, saw the vice of this meth cd of voting, and also said that direct secret voting would probably bring much better talent in the chamber.
 The Social Democrats naturally sttgmatize the whole system as reign of terror, which, however, is not con- fined to the aristocratic governing classes, but the Social Democrats themselves practice this terrorizing by boycotting merchants shop-keepers and beer garden conductors to make them vote for socialistic candidates.
 The lower, or third class, take little interest in the elections, and will not cast their fract lon of a vote unless the manufacturer who employees them, or the landlord upon whose land they live, puts pressure upon them to do 80. In some districts as high as 92 per cent of the third class voters do not erer- else their Franchise. They are ss thoroughly disfranchlscd as the neg roes in Mississippi.
 This is only the beginning of very unsatisfactory situation. Prussia still adheres to the old system of appor- tionlng representatives according to districts and not to population. The oretically there is one Deputy elected to the Landtag for every 71,oo0 people. or about three times the ratio Of rep- resentatlon in this country, where dis. tric4r nrc rnInnda cYerY 10 NearS and