‘I fear so, though with the ballot we shall still have a good deal of intimidation and bullying. The rich employer, unless he be more Liberal than many of them, will try still to carry his friend or himself, as the case may be. It seems very degrading, however, for a man to vote by ballot, as if he were ashamed of his opinions. I always think of what the great American statesman said when he was in England on that subject.’ ‘And what was that? I never heard of it.’ ‘When asked at a dinner-party in London whether the ballot prevailed in his State of Virginia, he replied: ‘“I can scarcely believe in all Virginia we have such a fool as to mention even the vote by ballot, and I do not hesitate to say that the adoption of the ballot would make a nation a set of scoundrels if it did not find them so.”’ ‘Rather hard, that, on the ballot, seeing that we shall have it very shortly.’ ‘Yes, the demand is a popular one with the Liberals, and they will carry it. There is one measure I should like to see, but I fear there is no chance of its coming yet.’ ‘What is that?’ ‘Annual Parliaments.’ ‘Oh,’ exclaimed the parson, ‘that will never do! As it is, the amount of mischief an election does in a borough like ours in the way of creating drunkenness, and bad feeling, and lying, and swearing, is incalculable.’ ‘Yes, but if we had an election once a year it would be quite different. In the first place, an election would be a tamer and much more commonplace an affair than it is now. A man would not care to spend much money on elections if his seat was only good for a year, and all that time he would be on his good behaviour—attending in his place, helping on needful reforms.’ ‘Why not triennial Parliaments?’ ‘Why, then things would be no better than they are now. There would be the same excitement and bitterness. The new M.P. would be remiss in his attendance the first or second year, while in the last session his only aim would be to gain the goodwill of the electors of his district. Again,’ added Mr. Wentworth, ‘as a rule the people are indifferent to politics. You only move them from their torpor at the time of a General Election. When that is over they become indifferent and apathetic again. With an election once a year you would have the people anxiously discussing political questions. It would be an education for them. It would ensure all the advantages without the disadvantages of the present system.’ ‘Upon my word,’ said the parson, ‘there is a good deal in what you say, though I never thought of it before. An election would then be a very commonplace affair.’