Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1892 — Worried by Ballot Reform. [ARTICLE]

Worried by Ballot Reform.

Very many of the States of the Union havo passod ballot-reform laws based upon the Australian system. Tho main benefits of the method are the freedom of tho elector from extraneous interested control, the absolute secrecy of the ballot, and the perfect individuality assured each eleotor as alone in a private compartment he indicates upon an official ballot his desire as an elector. Wherever Redublicans have glvon their assent to this method of election th»y seem greatly to regret it. The Republican candidate for tho Vice Presidency said in his journal only a few weeks ago words in derogation of the Australian system, which, applied to Malno, he regarded as harmful to the Republican eausb. Wherever the Australian ballot idea' Is used there, it is found, are lnoreased Democratic majorities. It is within the observation of all men who havo been through many elections that employers havo exercised eoercl n upon voters, their employes. The time has been when workingmen have been rnarehed to the polls in squads, furnished at the booth with the tickets seleoted by their employers, and watched that they placed in tho hands of the booth officer tho ballot that was glvon them by the agent of their employer. All this has I eon dono away with wherever the Australian idea has been udoptod. In Pennsylvania, whore protected mill owners have been In tho habit of voting their men aoiordingto the wishes of the employers, strong effort is now made to undo lhe legislation for the reformed method of voting. All sorts of representations are made that It Is imposilblo to comply with lhe law, that pap ran t presses cannot be had in order to prepare the nocessary official ballots, and some persons have gone so far in the Republican interests as to ask of tho Executive that a special session of the Legislature shall bo held even at this date with tho ldoa of repealing that law. Tho men who made lids demand upon Governor P>ttison did not know with whom they wore dealing. He advised tin m promptly as follows: “ x hero Is no oocas on for an oxtra session of tho legislature. Tho Baker ballot law passod by a largo majority In both brunches of the legislature. It was enacted in obedience to a very decided public sentiment. The press, almost without exception, approved of It If us oaruest efforts were made to enforce It as there Is a disposition to find fault with It there would be no trouble In its execution. Ballot reform la Pennsylvania has cornu to stay. Amendments may bo found necessary in the future, but they will bo in tho lino of prostnt legislation." The ponding is tho first presidential •lection where the balloting will have been very general under tho Australian plan. Republicans foresoo In such purity of election as tho system grows the loss of their ascendency. They cunnot follow the oleotor Into the booth. Ho Is there alone, unwutehod, and can vote ns his manhood un i not as Ills employer dictates.—Chicago Tltnos. Henefit* of the Unvoted Vot©. Mr. Whltelaw Held is now publishing editorlu s on “The Dangers of Neglecting to Vote,” from which an uninformod person might Infer that an unvoted Republican vote is the greatest of all evils. On the contrary, tho one unvoted vote In every Republican ton Is capable of the most beneficent results, for It Is capable of defeating Harrison and 1 old and tho work of the office-hold-ers’ convention at Minneapolis. No fair-minded man can deny that this will, probably, bo the 1 oit thing that cou’d happen to tbo Republican purty. If Harrison and his radical faction get four years moro in power they will wind tho party up, und not leave enough of It (o be worth administering, except through a return de bonis non. They uro determined to keop It a civilwar paity, and no e vil-war parly in tills country can survlvo much longer. If the Republican party is to represent for the next five years what Harrison represents now, It will bo obliterated as completely iis tho 'Whig party was when, In 1058, there wi»s not enough of It left to be laughed at. While we see no particular use of saving tho Republican party from this complete extermination; while on tho whole it would be much better for it to be exterminated, yet on the other hand we see still loss use of such violent forcing of Imniodtato settlement as lsinvolvod In Harrison’s continued leadership of tho parly. Such majorities as the country gave against Harrison In 1890 are necessary as protests against Radicalism, but they aie Inconveniently large when considered In any other light than that of an exprossfon of popular disapproval. An almost even balance between parties gives the best results for good government. But many Republicans are so attached to their party ns to be unable to reconcile thomselves to the prospect of its extermination through a second term of Harrison, and these seem to be bent on saving It with their unvoted votes. To Mr. Reid now tho unvoted Republican vote may seem a great evil, but in ten years or so, when he is more illsinteroste 1, ho may bo able to look back at the campaign of 1892 and think better of it.—Bt. Louis Republican. m The (»ua Fli«l. Noth'ng Dial tho Republican speakers say tan change the main issue of the campaign. That Issue is (he Republican record for the pa-st four years. No irrelevant clap-trap about State banks; no roaulpulati6n of the battered old “free-trade" bugaboo; no citation of English opinion, forged or otherwise; no rattling of the bogus American tin; no parade of cooked statistics can divert the people from the Issue created by the candidacy of President Harrison for a second term and the appeal for a ne.w Reed Congress. The Republican record includes; A squandered surplus of $100,103,000, A worse than war tariff. Increased taxes. The multiplication of monopolies: The menace of a force bill. Inflation with 65-cent dollars. Btate-st“allng and seat-grabbing. The protection of Republican rascals. A carnival of spoils. Renomlnatlon by office-holders. As a fitting climax lhe record Is orowned with a bold attempt lo carry the election Dy bribery and fraud. The Importation of the professional election crook, David Martin, and the Hackett circular calling for the “secret and discreet” furnishing of names of Democrats “who can be induced ti vote the Republican ticket this fail” can have no other meaning. With the issue thus made up the result ought not to be doubtful if every Democrat and honest Independent vot.r does his duty. Every incident of the Republican campaign renders it more imperative that the next President must be a Democrat. ■ Sakcho 1., or Saueho the Fat, was killed by poison being introduced an a. pie.