CHAPTER IX

COUNTRY AND LOCAL AFFAIRS

It may be of interest to tell how public and local duties were per- formed, if it may be properly termed “performed.”

. How Elections Were Conducted

Elections were generally wild times. These were about the only times neighbours got into fights; this was caused, for the most part, by liquor. Rum was free on these occasions. Without plenty of rum a candidate’s chances for success were very poor, however good he or his party or platform might be. Each candidate supplied the rum for his supporters. It was kept at a booth, where they could drink all they desired; and some of them had large desires. One time the bar- rel supplied by a candidate was all drunk early in the day. The can- didate was at another polling place several miles away. A. messenger was sent with all possible haste, to have him send another barrel of rum. The situation was desperate and he was informed that unless he sent another barrel at once he would not get another vote. The rum was sent immediately and it and the votes poured in like a river and carried the candidate to a glorious victory. Most of the voters drank, but not many got very drunk. It was a bad system. The voting was open; the voter would go up to the place where votes were recorded, and give his name and the one for whom he voted. There was no secret about it. There was much ill-will engendered by political dif- ferences among the people. But they began to see its unreasonable- ness, and good feeling toward one another was soon restored. ‘If the rum were kept away there would be very little trouble. The rum did great harm, not only at elections, but at all times, and all over the Island. Nearly every principal crossroad had a rum shop. Much poverty and great misery and many deaths were caused by this bad

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