Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-07-04
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
Addissn County Politics.

as some remarks have been made which
might tend to create an erroneous inn
preston in relation to the recent county
convention, a history of its action may
not be amiss at this time
There had been an unusually active
canvass before the convention, for some
weeks, for most of the offices to- be filled.
The candidates were well known, had
been fully s'talked up" by their friends,
and heralded by the local newspapers.
The convention assembled at the Court
House in Middlebury in the forenoon Of
June 10Th, and was an unusually fine
oDe Pursuant to order of the cOnyen-
ton each town then elected its fair and
proper number of delegates who were to
meet and make the nominations of Sen
ators and county officers, thus giving
every section of the county its equit-
able and just influence in deciding upon
the ticket.
This board of delegates were not elect
ed by the convention, or even reported
to it; but was elected by the Repub-
licans of the different towns, and met
and made the nominations
Marshall Smith Of Bridport and J.
Warren Barnes of Ferrisburgh, were
nominated for the Senate, each by just
the requisite number of votes. H. t.
Beer of Monkton and ]. w. Boynton of
Orwell were then nominated as Judges,
and Col j. III. Lucia of Vergennes for
States Attorney, by large maiorities.
For Sheriff, l. NJ. Trip of Middlebury
and George F. Skiff of M0nkton were
proposed, and on balloting Mr.. Skiff
was nominated by a handsome majority.
Tsis subject had been discussed through
the county and in the papers for weeks,
and was therefore thoroughly understood
by all the towns when choosing their
delegates The remainder of the ticket
was nominated unanimously. and the
board of delegates adjourned. It's ac-
ton became known and it was to be
presumed that this action was final. as
such had been the unbroken usage for a
quarter of a century.
Meanwhile the convention had adj
iourned from the Court House to meet
after a recess at the school house, a long
half mile away from the Court House
and hotels.
The day was excessively hot, and as
it had uniformly been the usage to ratify
the nominations, mem. con-, made by the
delegates appointed by the towns, and
then devote the time to speeches and
resolutions, hundreds who had rode long
distances and We're yet unable to get
their dinner, were in waiting at the no.
tells or had started homeward When
Hon. j. NJ Slade arrived at the
School House Hall, and reported the
ticket to the mass meeting there assem-
bled, this meeting by Jj1U g0ce vote as
sumed to strike Mr. Skiff's name from
finIyaf o,,1 c1rIAgtif,1tn # Nir
Tripp; and i'm pursuance Of this unpre-
cedented action it is now claimed by
some that Tripp is the regular nominee.
If this be true, he is the only regular
nominee we have ever had i'll the coun.
ty, for no one was ever nominated in
this manner before
The invariable practice having obtain
ed to consider the ticket made by the
delegates, fairly appOrtioned to every
part of the county, us the ticket OF the
convention, and to unanimously endorse
it as such, had become, like other usages
of long standing, the recognized law Of
the party and of conventions. Relying
upon this usage, hundreds did not deem
it necessary to follow the meeting over
the river in the midst of the cheated
term, and dinnerless at that. The sur
prise and indignation felt when the ac-
ton of the mass meeting became known
may be well understood. Should this
principle be recognized, that mass
meeting, naturally composed largely of
citizens living near the county seat, can
vote down the manifest wish of the
county, expressed by decided majority
of delegates selected to fairly represent
the interests of every section, then it
will be idle hereafter for any man to ex-
pect nomination" unless he can OBJ
tain the support of those living near the
''center," who can easily come into and
control the meetings, and override what
ever the rest of the county may de-
sire
This new, and before unheard of, doc
trine can hardly be defensible. Mr.
Skiff is the nominee of the republicans
of the county, and viii be warmly sup
ported as such Mr. Trip having al
ready held the office a considerable time,
it has been thought would not suffer his
name to be used in view of the above
named facts.
The Vermont Witness has attempted
to make it appear that Mr., Skif was in
favor of sustaining grog shops, gamh-
ling houses, etc, because he voted
against certain bill in the last legisla-
ture. To show the fairness and morali-
ty of this attack it needs only to be said
that the details of this bill were so Oh
noxious that the House defeated it by a
vote of nearly three to one, and in Adj
Olson county 16 members voted against
the bill and 6 for it. Among the 1G
were North of Shoreham, White of Or
well, Benedict of Cornwall, Hamilton
of Bridport, Smith of New Haven,
Dixie of Bristol, Clark of Lincoln, Bill
lings of Ripton, and Brown of Goshen.
These gentlemen are equally culpable
with Mr.. Skiff, and the merit of this at
tack can therefore be appreciated by
their friends
Mr.. Skiff has been a most faithful and
diligent officer, and has shown rare fit
ness for the place by that keen sagacity
and sturdy pluck so often required; and
he is deserving of a most glorious sup
port. Q.
I'll, 1870