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The Commoner.
MAY 8, 1903.
ii
MV0Wpmmfw
Fereter FrmMcks:
"Then they are, sotfcar!
ookla't fear aawMwa
Just as Ordered
Now is the Time to Think
df f ...,- r-.i.T? iiTT i .TiiF .J f -i -L i i- -n nn.
Think what you will seed uwa, and wrtt u TODAY. K yon will tell o what
you want to bur we will aA you a pcU catalogue oa ihatMtfcfa ar attic!
ifMoCdurge.
We make from 5000 to 10,000 shipments daily to people
who expect everything to be just as ordered and who would
not remain our customers if we did not satisfy them in
every particular.
We have satisfied Farmer Fredrlcks, also about two
million other intelligent people, and we can come pretty
near to satisfying you. If we can't, you won't be the loser,
as we agree to please you or take the shipment back entirely
at our expense it's our way of doing business.
What greater inducements can anybody offer for your
trade ? We ship 68 out of WO orders the same day received,
and 97 out of every WO within three days.
Matter send is cents fer mar
eatalegae TODJHT. Yea can
mere than aa.ee that email
mmetiHt en year first erder.
SI
Montgomery Ward Co., Tm&msI; Chicago
i
Snd for Catalogue 71 Todur
Iteeataiaaueopacwei' wholesale price & flrtmrr nf r n ijTlifair
y o et, wrar er utc
Montgomery Want Jt Co., Chicago.
delated tad Q caste, fer which please tead m CafelogBc Ketyx
Sfaae
Itcftem 0Me
Cemty . .
Write rerrpUJa.
TMtOftM-
JHt.
THE VOTING MACHINE
At the last municipal flection "held
in this city the successful candidate
for mayor was elected by a hare plu
rality of 72 votes out of a total of
over 33,000, and yet within half an
hour after the polls closed the result
was known to a certainty, while de
spite the closeness of the vote, there
was not so much as an intimation of
a contest on the part of the defeated
candidate. Rochester had used the
voting machine, and there was no
chance to' "go behind the returns."
If the old paper ballots had been used
there would "Undoubtedly have been
enough void and marked ballots to
form the basis for a contest with all
its attendant expense and anxiety.
Rochester's experience with the ma
chine during the last five elections has
been so satisfactory that city officials,
politicians and the public generally
give it practically unanimous ap
proval, and. there is no desire to go
back to the old- system. Rochester
feels that it is, in this respect at
least, at the very forefront of prog
ress. The machine which is used in this
city is often described as a mechani
cal Australian ballot It insures sec
recy to the voter, is simple and easy
to operate, it never makes mistakes, it
not only records, but also counts the
votes as they are made, and it pre
sents the tabulated results of the
precinct vote to the judgeB the instant
the polls are declared closed. All
that is left to do in order to get the
result of the election is to add to
2ther the figures from each precinct
in the ward or district or city, as the
case may be. The machine is known
a3 the United States Standard voting
machine, and is made in Jamestown,
N. .
The familiar cash register seen ev
erywhere' in stores is the contrivance
which best illustrates the nature of
the voting machine. The principle is
very much the same, a set of pointer
or levers, a locking device and a me
clianism for computation being used,
but of course the voting machine Is
much more complicated than the
other.
The face. of the machine, as it is
presented to the yoter, who stands
before it, is about four feet square,
and its depth Is teri inches. It is sup
ported on four steel legs, which bring
the top of it about six feet above the
floor. It weighs about 600 pounds
and costs $500.
A movable curtain is hung In front
of the machine, so arranged that it
remains open while no one is using
it, but is pulled shut automatically as
soon as the voter comes to it The
first thing the voter does it to reach up
to a lever at the top of the machine
and pull it to-the right. The effect
Is both to close the curtain and to un
lock the mechanism so that one ballot
for each office, and one only, is cast.
The voter then finds himself facing
the front of the machine on which
are rows of small numbered pointers.
Each candidate to be voted for Ib rep
resented by one of these pointers, and
each political party has its candidates'
names placed in a row horizontally
across the front of the machine. The
different candidates for the same
.office therefore have their names one
beneath the other in the perpendic
ular columns. At the left of each par
ty row is a knob, on which is the
name of the party and a symbol or
emblem to represent it
When the voter wants to vote a
straight party ticket, the first thing
he has to do, after he has moved the
lever that unlocks the keys, Is to press
the knob which represents his partic
ular party to the right until it rings a
boll. This movement turns downward
every one of the little pointers that
represent the candidates of the party
and places them in a voting position.
It does not register the vote, however,
as it is only a preliminary getting in
to position. To complete the vote
and register and count it all the voter
needs to do then is to seize the orig
inal lever which unlocked the. keys
and closed the curtain, and push it
back to its old place. With that the
curtain opens, the vote Is recorded
and the keys are re-locked, prelimi
nary to the appearance of another
man ready to exercise his right of
suffrage.
It Is not much more difficult to split
a ticket than to vote straight To
split the voter must first press the
knob representing one of the politi
cal parties. For convenience he will
use tho knob of the party from which
he chooses most of his candidates, but
that is not essential. Any one of the
knobs will do. He then finds all tho
little pointers freely movable and at
his servico to arrange any way he
Ho can replace as many of the
pointers representing candidates on
his ticket as he- chooses, thus taking
his vote away from them, and ho can
turn downward tho pointers for' can
didates to corresponding offices on the
other tickets. If ho has made a mis
take and pressed the wrong party
knob at the start, he can adjust the
machino so as to vote straight for an
entirely different ticket If ho chooses.
All this moving of the pointers has
no effect whatever on the registering
and counting apparatus. The voter
can take plenty of time and make sure
that his ticket is fixed up the way ho
wants It. -When all is ready he re
verses the lever at the top of the ma
chine, and steps out of the booth with
his ballots counted before he leaves.
The machine also provides for the
wishes of the voter who wants to vote
for some man who Is not a regular
candidate on anyone of the tickets.
Indeed, if it did not do this it would
not be permitted by law, as the right
to vote for whom he pleases, regard
less of party tickets, Is guaranteed
each man by the constitution. At the
top of the machine is a series of lit
tle slides, one for each office to be
filled. To vote for men whose names
are not on the ticket these slides may
be Qpened and the name written on a
slip of paper underneath. When he
pulls the curtain lever tho paper
moves forward so that no succeed
ing voter can see what name was
written on it
Another provision of this machine
is for "yes" and "no" votes for ques
tions of bond issue, public policy, or
anything else that is submitted to bal
lot Tho voting can be done with great
rapidity. It takes only a second to
unlock the keyboard and no longer to
lock it again, and a second is ample
for pressing a knob if a straight par
ty ticket is voted. Fifteen seconds for
each voter is considered ample for
straight votes. For splits a little
longer is required, but inside of a
minute the ordinary man can fix his
entire ballot. The Rochester re
turns for the last municipal election
indicated to what extent the splitting
privilege was exercised, as the plu
ralities ranged from 72 up to more
than 4,000 for tho successful republi
can candidates.
The saving effected by tho machino
Is also very great There are none of
tLe heavy printing bills to bo racf
and tho clerical work of the olectloa
is greatly reduced. It Is estimated that
in three years voting machines will
save enough money to the city to pay
for their initial cost
The voting Is absolutely safe, as the
ballots can never be tampered with.
The identity of each vote Is lost in
tho totals, which are all tho machine,
keeps. Thoro is nothing to tamper
with and no chance for error. Thf
cog wheels move with relontlesjWc.,
curacy and give certain resulted
Judging from the success with which
tho machines have met wherever they
have been used it would seem that
tho day is coming when the American
citizen throughout tho land will reg
ister his vote by machine. At tho
present time about 800 machines are In
use in the country. Most of them aro
in New York state, although they aro
being tried in Indiana, Wisconsin and
Connecticut
Laws similar to the New York en
actment allowing the use of voting
machines have been passed In tho
states of Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio,
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Iowa, Nebraska, Connecticut, Indiana
and Kansas.
At this year's gubernatorial elec
tion in New York state five ballot
machines were used as an experiment
In Greater New York, one being In
Mayor Low's election precinct and
another in JLieutenant Governor
Woodruff's district They seem to
have given complete satisfaction.
Rochester (N. Y.) Special to Chicago
Record-Herald.
Henry George Edition
For single taxers. Special Issue
May 14, 1903. Articles by Bolton Hall,
Louis F. Post, Henry George, jr.
Fillebrown, Vinlng, Freeland, Bart
ley, Johnson, Wakefield, Swinney, and
a dozen others. Single copy, 5c; 100
$1. The Independent, Lincoln, Neb.
" ' i i
Not Hungry
tfhen you should be means disordered
nerves, which, will lead to nervous
prostration. Dr. Miles' Nervine is
guaranteed to benefit you or money
refunded. Book on nerves sent free.
Dm. Mxum Uxbwal Co., Elkbart, lad.
M
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