Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/82

 During the nineteenth century the electorate in the United States was altered both in character and in number. The increase in the number of the voters was due: first to a great increase in the native population; secondly, to a large immigration from Europe; thirdly, to a removal of many previously existing disqualifications for voting, which reached its culmination in the enfranchising of the negroes. The character of the electorate suffered many changes. In the virtual establishment of manhood suffrage many classes were included who had not developed to such a degree that they could be intrusted with the ballot. The population, which had been rural, was modified by the growth of a large urban class. These great political and industrial changes put a heavy strain on our election machinery. Party spoils, also, became increasingly attractive and led to a wider use of illegitimate means to win elections. The electoral machinery which had been sufficient for the older order proved inadequate. Even before the Civil War there were complaints made that the judgment of the electorate was being subverted by ballot-box stuffing, bribery, and intimidation. In 1851 Massachusetts and Rhode Island tried to secure relief by the passage of the official-envelope law, but the attempt was premature, and the compulsory use of these envelopes was soon abandoned. The absorbing interest in slavery and the war diverted public attention from the canker which had attacked the very roots of democratic government.

In the period of corruption following the Civil War the ballot was made the instrument of even greater abuse. The party bosses controlled the nomination of candidates, prepared and distributed the ballots, conducted the campaign, and often secured the election of their party slate by means of bribery and intimidation. This condition became so notorious that the state legislatures interfered at last, and an attempt was made to curb the grosser forms of abuse. The result is seen in a series of legislative acts. Fifteen states provided that the ballot should be printed on white paper, and that type of a certain size and ink of a particular color should be used. California and Oregon tried to secure a uniform weight and color of paper by requiring the ballots to be printed