" FAKED " STRIKE BALLOTS.
A FEW days ago a Bill was introduced to Parliament dealing with trade union ballots. The object was to make the strike vote as secret as the Parliamentary franchise. But Labour leaders, who pose as super-Democrats, opposed the measure. As an old workman and keen student, I submit that not only should the strike ballot be made secret, but that all votes should be made, as far as possible, instruments for the expression of intelligent opinions. Democracy under present conditions is fraudulent. Our entire voting system— trade union, municipal, and Parliamentary—ought to be recast. We ought to enfranchise intelligence. At present we are ruled by ignorance.
In case of a strike ballot, is there any sense in allowing the irresponsible youth of twenty a vote of equal value with that of the experienced family man of fifty ? And the same question applies all round. If the man of twenty is entitled to one vote, then the man of thirty should have two votes, the man of forty should have three votes, and so on. If the girl of twenty Is entitled to a vote, then the man of sixty ought to have a dozen votes I
In practically every election, be it for a trade union delegate or for the setting up of a national Government, the votes of the intelligent are swamped by the votes of the ignorant. In the trade union world we have the worst forms of Democracy. We have the open ballot, and we have the " faked " ballot. We have minority rule, and we have rule by intimidation and by trickery.
A certain branch I know something about took a vote recently on Direct Action. This is the biggest question ever sub- mitted to trade unionists. Out of nearly five hundred members only twenty-eight turned up. Twenty-six voted for and two against. That counted as a full branch vote for Direct Action. The small minority of wild young men attend the meetings. carry the votes, and get themselves elected as delegates. These revolutionaries prostitute trade unionism and Democracy, whilst the ordinary members stay at home, either too apathetic to take active interest in affairs or too disgusted with the young hooligans to attend the meetings. These wild youths now exercise such an influence that many of the older men hardly dare express their views. If a moderate man ventures a sane opinion the revolutionaries make his life a misery. A new law should be passed. Either the voting age should be put up, or extra votes should be given for age, and no strike ballot should be valid unless a very substantial majority takes part.
Then there is the open ballot. Miners vote for or against a strike at the pithead, in the presence of the local officials; who are mostly agitators, and many men vote for extreme policies rather than incur the displeasure of the wild men. The trade union ballot is invariably a farce.
And there is the faked ballot, which is a positive outrage on Democracy. The miners' ballot on nationalization last year was a classic example of this, and it is worth recalling in view of the amazing confession just made by one of the leaders. In order to secure a favourable vote for their scheme the leaders tacked nationalization on to a ballot paper covering three other and quite separate questions, and invited a simple yes or no to all four. If the miners had voted against nationalization they, by the same mark, would have been voting against higher wages, against shorter hours, and against justice for discharged soldiers. Never in the annals of Democracy was a more dis- honest vote taken ! But when we opponents of nationalization ventured to protest, or point out the unfairness of the thing, we were promptly told that the miners had been voting for nationalization for years, that they were most determined, and that it was a settled question. But now where are we ?
No less a miners' leader than Mr. Vernon Hartshorn, M.P., openly confesses that he dOm not know the miners' views on the question of striking for nationalization, and that the leaders have no mandate to press the claim ! Thus everything we opponents of nationalization have been saying on this point is justified and confirmed by a miners' leader, and the great ballot is a confessed fraud. In fact, Mr. Hartshorn goes so far as to say the miners do not understand nationalization !
Yes, the ballot needs reforming. On the vital issue of a big strike the vote should be as free and secret as the Parliamentary vote. No ballot should be valid without a clear majority vote. And above all, in politics and in trade unionism, the vote should be one of intelligence and not ignorance. If we are ill we seek a skilled medical man. If we want a machine we seek a skilled engineer. If we Want a house we seek a skilled archi- tect. But when we want to settle huge and vital industrial, social, and political questions we appeal to the mob, especially to the ignorant section of the mob. Let us enfranchise intelli- gence, and then, but not till then, shall we be on the road to real progress and happiness. A wide and comprehensive franchise means rule by ignorance. The open trade union ballot means rule by intimidation. The "faked " vote means rule by trickery.
E. T. GOOD.
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