The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1887. THE FREEDOM OF THE BALLOT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Issue IX, 29 August 1887, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1887. THE FREEDOM OF THE BALLOT.

1 Thb ballot is the corner stone of democracy an&if there is. one institution which democrat leaders should respect more than another it is that secret . form of voting which is known as"the ballot." Under the lawß of this colony voting for the legislature is a soeret act and any attempt to interfere with the hidden character of the suffrage is 1 a violation of its spirit and its letter. To inquire of a man how lie will vote is an impropriety, and for a candidate to ask another to vote for him is a ' scandal. We have known a democratic candidate in the Wairarapa to solicit votes, but it is only democratic politicians that would go to this extreme t length. The object of the ballot is to prevent all intimidation and bribery ■ and to permit every elector to use. his Bufirage, according to his owii con- . scientious judgment, for the good oi - the public. It is specially the duty of b the heads of the domooratie party in the colony to see that there is no ': ■' tampering with the spirit of the ballot. ' Yet, aceordmgrfo the Napier Telei. graph, we are lfid to believe that no i, less a personage lihan the übiquitous and Honorable Ji:Ballance is a decided ' faraperor, ai bofeunblushing Violator . of the suffrage, our comtem- . porary ~ Considerable indignation, ' combined with anpement is eipress ( ed ': by the natives atftlie personal interest i the Native Minister'is taking in the East Coast Maori !,eleotiorii : . ■' It is simply disgracefnl, the mariner in which Mr Ballance is canvassing., We 4 We been shown the following teligram addressed to a Maori chief :'— !':'i«:Kia;.kha te whajohaere o nga ■ Momdnabtoa i to kainga kia pooti . ki a Wi Pere. Signed Na Te Para- , • nilnV' This is the interpretation :- i Viße strong to. influence all thj« ' Mormons in your place to vote f6rWiP«w. Sigwd.~J. Ballaneo,

Wellington," When the Hon Mr '.; •Ballance came to .Masterton to tell the people here how'to vote he did ' not say, "Be strong to influenoe all ' to vote for Mr Hogg,". he.. merely ex- , plained that he had come to expound ] "thepolitical situation." Mealing , however with the Maories he adopted ] a simpler and more direct method of instruction as the above telegram , indicates. We may assume that he hadalready, arranged with the East , Coast Natives generally:''prior to the " ; despatch of this wire as. to how they were, to' vote, but that the ■•Mormon .converts dwelling among :them had been overlooked. These latter are to be influenced, not by Mr Balance's Wellington religious organ "Truth," but by the direct order of a Minister of the Crown. What is the use of the ballot, where is the boasted freedom from intimidation, the impossibility of bribery, when a Minister of.-the Crown dictates to people how .they are to vote, when he strongly influences the strangers within the. gate to plump for a Government supporter ? What guarantee have we for the honesty, and faith of a Ministry when it opeMy' li violates the spirit of the ballot after this fashion? When a gentleman in the position of the Hon John, Ballance • asks voters to support particular candidates he lays himself open to a susbribery. The native chief .to whom the Native Minister sent, the above telegram could ho doubt say to him, " I have done this thing for you, , now you must do something for me," 5 and whatever that something was it , would probably have to be done, and it would mean in nineteen cases out of , twenty something out of the pocket of the colony,..^.'We sincerely trust Mr , Ballance will be able to contradict or explain the charge brought against him by our Napier contemporary. Had such a thing been said of' his • predecessor, Mr Bryce, we should have - disbelieved it. This is a sort of thing a man like Mr Bryce could not do, but is it a thing a man like Mr Ballance could do? We hope not, for though we regard Mr Ballance as a head and shoulders below Mr Bryce in lC questions of principle, we hope he does draw a line somewhere. ,The public have a right to know whether the Government are or are not inter- - fering with the elections. The charge ! t now brought against Mr Ballance is a very serious ono. If it be true his [y action is a monace and an insult to ir every honest elector in the colony. It

is also noticeable that on the present occasion, for the first time, the Maori elections are unadverfcised; they are, so far as possible, arranged tub ma, and whether this is a point which Mr Ballance, as an old newspaper man, appreciates, we know not, but we presume he is more or less responsible for it. Perhaps the Napier Daily Telegraph will tell us a little more yet about the way in which the Maori election is.being worked.