LORD SANDON AND THE BALLOT.
LORD SANDON has the reputation of being a clever man of busi- ness ; and when his Liverpool friends have a job to carry in a Committee of the House of Commons, we doubt not they find him a very useful fellow—at least they say so. But apart from what is called " business," there is not a more ordinary personage in the House, or out of it, than Lord Viscount SANDON. When he has a question of politics to deal with, be blunders both in facts and logic; and were it not for the important position he occupies as Member for Liverpool, he would deserve scarcely more attention than Mr. BADGE, or Mr. CHUTE, or any other Tory squire who triumphed gloriously at the late election by the aid of a loag purse and a subservient tenantry. But as Member for Liverpool, Lord SANDON is a person of some distinction ; for which reason, out of the multifarious oratory of the week, we select a few points of his speech to his constituents, for brief notice.
. Mr. EWART is an advocate for the Ballot, and Lord SANDON opposes it ; Mr. EWART was defeated, and Lord SANDON elected: therefore, says the Lord, the electors of Liverpool are opposed to the Ballot. Well, let that pass; but then Lord SANDON proceeds to tell his constituents why they are opposed to the Ballot-
" You were not, I have no doubt you were not, so perfectly blind and insen- sible to some of the inconveniences which attend an open system of voting ; but, on the other hand, you no doubt felt deeply that a greater and more extensive moral mischief would attend upon secret voting. You required no other proof of the moral degradation that would result from the plan proposed, than that which was furnished by Mr. O'Connell in his speech at the Dublin election, wherein he said that with vote by ballot a man might cry out for West and Hamilton on the hustings and give his vote for O'Connell and Hutton. To my mind, that one circumstance was a sufficient answer."
When it is recollected to whom Lord SANDON is indebted for his seat,—that were it not fur the influence his friends exercise over the most corrupt portion of a notoriously corrupt constituency, be would have no more chance of being Member for Liverpool than he has of being Member for Lambeth,—it must appear an extraordinary stretch of assurance to refer to the fact of his elec- tion as a proof that the assumed unpopularity of the Ballot among his supporters is owing to their horror of the "moral degrada- tion" of voting in secret ! It must indeed have required no inconsiderable power of countenance to tell the Liverpool Tories that their purity would be endangered by the Ballot—that they would be morally degraded by any possible mode of voting different from that which they practise. Lord SANDON was HAMILTON shocked at the idea of a man shouting for WEST and HAMILTON yet voting for O'CONNELL and HUTTON. "To his mind (what a mind it must be!) that one circumstance was
a sufficient answer" to all the arguments for the Ballot. But Lord SANDON has no compunctious feelings for the multitudes
whose wishes directed them to vote for EWART and ELPHINSTONE, but who nevertheless, by undue influence of some description, were constrained or induced to " shout " at the hustings for SANDON and CRESWELL. A curiously constructed conscience is that of Lord SANDON.
But this Lord has another objection to the secret vote : it would not stifle bribery or put an end to excitement. Could he only prove what he said, we suspect that the opponents of the Ballot would shrink to a small number among his adherents.
" You who have seer. that system adopted in other countries, have you seen it put an end to excitement and canvass? No. Have you seen it put an end to
corruption? No. Even these two points, on which almost alone the advo- cates of secret voting rest its defence, fail before them ; for neither the ex- citement nor the corruption are stifled by this plan of secret voting."
But suppose that it renders corruption more difficult, would not that be a reason for tiling it ? If the evil cannot be entirely removed, should it not if possible be lessened ? Zealous partisans may canvass, if they please; but surely the motive for soliciting votes from individuals must be greatly diminished when the secu- rity for the fulfilment of promises no longer exists.
The assumption that the secret vote has been tried and has failed in other countries, is utterly false. Lord SANDON, doubtless, had France and the United States in view. Now with regard to France, the evidence given before the Intimidation Committee by distinguished persons from that country, proves that the secret vote is almost the only safeguard against the overwhelming influ- ence of the Government. Even in a constituency of only 100,000 out of a population of 33,000,000,—the number of offices in the direct gift of the Ministry exceeding that of the electors,—the ballot is still found to be most valuable. As to the United States, there is little or no occasion for protection to voters ; and the ma-
chinery is so clumsy that it cannot be said to secure secrecy of voting. It is therefore beside the question to refer to the United
States as a country in which the ballot has failed to stifle cor- ruption and excitement. If, however, Lord SANDON means to insinuate that the same kind of personal bribery prevails to any extent in the United States as in Liverpool, here again he is at variance with the fact. When he was on the subject of the Ballot, why did not Lord SANDON state fairly that its advocates rely upon the secret vote chiefly as a remedy against intimidation? That it would most materially lessen bribery, there can be no reasonable doubt; but intimidation it would entirely prevent.
Lord SANDON thinks it a great matter that the Liverpool con- stituency have decided against the Ballot, against Peerage Reform, and in favour of the State Church as it is; for the electors of Liverpool, he says, represent and embrace "the most enlightened and enterprising merchants in the civilized world." But is it the enlightened portion of the Liverpool constituency that agrees with Lord SANDON? Again we say, look at the poll-book, and see to whom the Tory Members owe their triumph. There is, however, a body in Liverpool elected by a constituency from which venal paupers are excluded : the Town-Council is chosen by the per- manent, tax-paying, rate-paying householders; and it so happens that of this body a large majority are Liberals. As for the Par. liamentary constituency, it is notorious that there is a number of venal electors sufficiently large to turn the scale in favour of the candidate who can directly or indirectly give them most for their votes.
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