IX

The Secret Ballot

What is the motive behind the secret ballot? This, and only this: Like other confederates in crime, those who use it are not friends, but enemies, and they are afraid to be known, and to have their individual doings known, even to each other. They can contrive to bring about a sufficient understanding to enable them to act in concert against other persons; but beyond this they have no confidence, and no friendship, among themselves. In fact, they are engaged quite as much in schemes for plundering each other, as in plundering those who are not of them. And it is perfectly well understood among them that the strongest party among them will, in certain contingencies, murder each other by the hundreds of thousands (as they lately did do) to accomplish their purposes against each other. Hence they dare not be known, and have their individual doings known, even to each other. And this is avowedly the only reason for the ballot: for a secret tyranny; a tyranny by secret bands of tyrants, robbers, and murderers. And we are insane enough to call this liberty! To be a member of this secret gang of tyrants, robbers, and murderers is esteemed a privilege and an honor! Without this privilege, a man is considered a slave; but with it a free man! With it he is considered a free man, because he has the same power to secretly (by secret ballot) procure the robbery, enslavement, and murder of another man, and that other man has to procure his robbery, enslavement, and murder. And this they call equal rights!

If any number of men, many or few, claim the right to "govern" the people of this country, let them make and sign an open compact with each other to do so. Let them thus make themselves individually known to those whom they propose to "govern." And let them thus openly take the legitimate responsibility of their acts. How many of those who now support the pretended "constitution," will ever do this? How many will ever dare openly proclaim their right to "govern"?, or take the legitimate responsibility for their acts? Not one!

X
The Pretended "Government" is a Hoax

It is obvious that, on general principles of law and reason, there is no such thing as a "government," created by, or resting upon, any consent, compact, or agreement of "the people of the United States" with each other; that what we have is a tyranny, composed of only a small number of individuals, who act in concert, and call themselves by the several names of "senators," "representatives," "presidents," "judges," "marshalls," "treasurers," "collectors," "generals," "colonels," "captains," etc., etc.

On general principles of law and reason, it is of no importance whatever, that those few individuals profess to be the agents and representatives of "the people of the United States"; since they can show no credentials from the people themselves; they were never appointed as agents or representatives in any open, authentic manner, they do not themselves know, and have no means of knowing, and cannot prove, who their principals (as they call them) are individually; and consequently cannot, in law or reason, be said to have any principals at all.

[The very idea that they could be "representatives," is in itself utterly absurd, in fact impossible. They claim that one person serves as a "representative" for all of the people in a particular area - yet it should be blatantly obvious that one person cannot possibly represent all of the different, even conflicting, views - from a few thousand to millions, since no-one thinks identically to anyone else - in just one view that ends up being presented and applied to all by a single pretended "representative," and which would also be affected by his or her biases.]

It is obvious, too, that if these alleged principals ever did appoint these pretended "agents," or "representatives," they appointed them secretly (by secret ballot), and in a way to avoid all personal responsibility for their acts; that, at most, these alleged principals put these pretended agents forward for the most criminal purposes, viz.: to plunder the people of their property, and restrain them of their liberty; and that the only "authority" that these alleged principals have for so doing, is simply a tacit understanding among themselves that they will imprison, shoot, or hang every man who resists the exactions and restraints which their agents or representatives may impose upon them.

Thus it is obvious that what we have is a tyranny, made up of these professed agents or representatives of a secret gang of tyrants, robbers, and murderers, who, to cover up, or gloss over, their robberies and murders, have taken to themselves the title of "the people of the United States"; and who, on the pretense of being "the people of the United States," assert their right to subject to their dominion, and to control and dispose of at their pleasure, all property and persons found in the country.

Next - Pretended Oaths