Whangarei Link With Early Secret Ballot

Northern Advocate, 1 December 1949, Page 2

Whangarei Link With Early Secret Ballot

ELECTORS who voted yesterday possibly took the institution of the secret ballot as a matter of course, thinking little of the days when the only possible candidate was the one backed by the landowner or major employer, as voting was on a show of hands.

The first secret ballot was conducted in England in January, 1860, with the United Liberal Party seeking re-election, and Mr Ernest Taylor, of Maunu Road, Whangarei, has a voting paper from the first election conducted on this principle.

The institution of secret voting has a family significance to Mr Taylor, as his grandfather, Henry Taylor, a soap merchant of Manchester, backed John Bright in his campaign for this achievement of constitutional progress in British Parliamentary practice. The voting paper, which is printed on heavy card, reads: — TEST BALLOT JANUARY 186 ft United LIBERAL PARTY Representation of Manchester T. MILNER GIBSON ERNEST JONES 7 "Strike out the name of the candidate for whom you do not vote: then put the card in the envelope and place it in the ballot-box. No card to be taken out of the ballot room.” The form and the wording has stood the test of time, and could be used today. USED HIS FORTUNE i The two major issues on which Henry Taylor was backing John Bright were the Secret Ballet Act and the Repeal of the Corn Laws, to provide cheap bread for the people of Britain. Henry Taylor exhausted his personal fortune in the battle for these two principles and was left with insufficient capital to educate his sons, one of whom later became a judge in Manchester, and the other Mr Ernest Taylor's father, a clergyman. In recognition of the services their father had given the party the Government of the day financed the education of the two sons. That was just 80 years ago. Since then the British people have enjoyed the privilege of casting iheir votes without fear or prejudice, an:i that right was purchased by a few ] hardy reformers. j Throughout the world democratic | countries have followed the lead given | by Britain. I Only a few students of history would be able to quote the names of the men i I who fought for that right, but. so long as the original ballot-paper is in Mr j Taylor's possession, the men who were responsible for the act will be remembered.