Year: 1869

we're exerted during the struggle 10 degree
hardly equaled in the political contests OF the
nresent generation. The sudden call to power
of great, fresh, untned constituency of work
| ingmen and poor men generally, seems TO nave
proved an irresistible temptation 10 Tie "ielQers
of power and the owners of long purses Inc
result was that the Dakedness ana shameless
ness of bribery and landlord-pressure were ex-
hibited so garingly as to startle the whoie
public into a demand for some system, some
principle, which should rescue English politics
from such danger and such infamy.


For long time the agitation III favor OIL the
ballot in Great Britain had dropped anu iah-
guisled. The great popular leaders, CoDueh
and Bright, and all of their school from Miner
Gibson downward were steadily faithful to it,
and always declared that no measure OF reform
could be of real and permanent use without H.
Most of them, indeed, held it as n doctrine tla1
| the ballot is the core of all reform. But they
did not agitate for it. They are of an intensely
practical school One thing at time is their
motto and they went for popular suffrage
| first. Meanwhile the agitation was kept UP Dy
| Ballot Society, which was in the hands OF Il
| small knot Of wcl-mcaning, earnest, inslgnill-
cant persons and motion in favor oi the Dal-
lot was made in the House of Commons every
year by Mr. Henry Berkeley, and short debate
took place about which nobody cared, and
which only afforded the late Lord Palmerston
an opportunity of firing off a few antique
Jokes at the expense of those who supported
the notion The whole thing was fast becoming
i'm the eyes of the House of Commons q mere
bore. almost like poor old Mr.. Spooncrs anti
MAMMOTH motion, or that of the late Lord
EIaddo against the use of the undraped female
model. With the death of Lord Palmerston,
however, began new era, and then, after one
momentary shudder of reaction toward Tory
ism, came the plunge forward into Reform and
Household Suffrage. The time just now is, here
fore, emnently auspicious for a real and serious
agitation in favor of the ballot Already
notices have been given in Parliament of mo-
tons in its favor; but of course the value OF
Parliamentary motion must be estimated, not
by the Justice of the arguments for and against
it, but by the influence and eanestness of the
men who support it. Nothing very serious will
probably be done this sesslOn-the carriage OF
the Irish Church stops the way. But it will be
the next great Parliamentary question, and Its
success will not be long deferred Public
opinion in England is ripe for it now; the
changes of the last two years, the events OF the
late elections, have done more for it than fifty
years of philosophical argument could
do. The cause of the ballot is the only
great public question which gains, instead of
losing by the absence of Mr.. Mill from Parla-
mcnt. The son of renowned advocate of
the ballot, the friend and associate Of
Mr.. Grote the historian, who used to
be the champion of the ballot in Par
lament, Mr.. Mill has lately been its
steady opponent. Yet even he has been forced
by the argument of facts so far as to admit
that in ireland at least it might possibly be
tried with advantage. His own experience at
Westminster lately may perhaps have con-
vinccd him. as il has satisfied most other peo


pie, that there is no free popular voting where
there is no baot-box. Certainly that is now
the conviction of the great majority of rational
people in England. aud it only needs the mot
rordre of the Liberal leaders to set an agita-
ton going which will turn that conviction into
| an act of Parliament.