Show SOME OF the newspapers have i been covering Mr Bulkley of Connecticut Con-necticut all over with praise The gentleman was the republican candidate can-didate for governor of the Nutmeg state and lacked about 4000 votes of having enough to elect but the republican chief justice of the state undertook to overcome the little obstacle by declaring certain democratic demo-cratic ballots were illegal It was not claimed that the objectionable Ballots were not cast by demociats or that any coercion had been employed em-ployed to force anybody to vote for Wailer the democratic candidate Technically the ballots did not comply com-ply with the law and the judge declared I de-clared them illegal and Bulkley was invited to accept the governorship or at least make a contest for it He refused saying he would not take office under such a technicality and for this is he being praised But is he entitled enti-tled to the laudation The facts are simply these The law of Connecticut Con-necticut requires that the names of the candidates shall be printed on plain white paper In New Haven and nowhere else in the recent election the democratic ballots were 30 printed that the face of the ballot bal-lot was black and the names of the candidates and the offices for which they were running appeared in white letters The court held that all sum ballots were clearly palpably pal-pably unlawful But it appears that the republican ballots all over the State though prin ted on white paper had heavy black borders and other distinguishing marks around the names of the candidates and would fall within the rule invalidating invalidat-ing the democratic ballots cast in New Haven If the republicans should make a contest they would be met at once with the decision they invoked Hence Mr Bulk leys refusal to make a contest He saw that it would not do to throw out democratic marked ballots and count republican marked tickets at the same time and had he consented co such being done by a partisan legislature leg-islature he would have shown himself him-self unfit for any public trust The incident however ought to be a lesson to political managers The marked ballot is wrong and destroys des-troys the free election in just so far as the distinguishing device may tell how or for whom the citizen votes The only way for every man to express i himself fully and freely through the polls is by an absolutely secret ballot bal-lot Now and then there is an independent in-dependent person who cannot be coerced into voting against his convictions con-victions and he would as soon the whole world knew how and for whom he voted but such citizens are rare The masses are more or less subject to powers that would influence their votes so that if balloting oting were open or public the majority jority of votes would seldom represent repre-sent the popular voice |