Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/28



As its name implies, this system originated in Australia. The population of this land in the first half of the nineteenth century included many gold-seekers, bent upon gain, and a large class of criminals. In this environment the vices of the viva voce method flourished even more than in England. Mr. Francis S. Dutton in his testimony before the Marquis of Hartington committee in 1869 said: "Before the ballot was in operation our elections were exceedingly riotous. Of course our community had the rowdy elements as well as other countries, and on election days these troublesome elements came to the surface; and I have been in the balcony of an hotel during one of the city elections, when the raging mobs down in the street were so violent that I certainly would not have risked my life to have crossed the street."

Many men in Australia saw the dangers of open voting, and began to work to secure a remedy. The secret ballot was first proposed by Francis S. Dutton in the Legislative Council of South Australia in 1851. For several years no action was taken, but in 1857 Mr. Dutton became a member of the government, and made excellent use of his opportunity to advance his measure. A bill embodying this plan was introduced, and, after some modification in the House, became a law in 1857-58. In Victoria the secret ballot was championed by Mr. William Nicholson, who, at the head of the government, secured the enactment of the law in 1856. The system spread very rapidly. It was adopted by Tasmania and New South Wales in 1858; New Zealand in 1870; Queensland in 1874; and West Australia in 1877.

In England, where the viva voce method was in use with all its attending vices, the secret ballot had been agitated continually since 1830. In that year it was proposed by O'Connell and received the Rh