St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-07-05


though what they might do could not
peared certain that WAS. that if they
could not succeed with their own can
didate, they would see to it that his
chief opponent. Mr.. Billings. should fare
no better Between these tw" strong
parties were the Converse men. HOW
many they numbered no one could even
remotely conjecture. There might he
ten of them-or possibly twenty-five.
But when. on calling the roll of them.
il was found that they embraced more
than two-thirds of the delegation of the
county where Mr.. Billings and Mr.. Con
verse both reside. and that in the con
vention they composed nearly one
fourth of all present. it created much
surprise, if indeed it did not send
anlaZement to the ranks of the other
parties. At first it was. supposed that
after casting a complimentary vote for
their faVOrite, the Converse men would
divide between the other candidates.
But no. not they, after they had learned
what their strength was. He had been
the pet candidate of his especial sup
porters for some Years past. and if tins
was not their harvest time very likely
it would never come.
HOW ALL THIS HAPPENED.
This unSightly and painful contest.
as between Gov. Stewart and Mr.. Bill
ings. has been the Stram9cSt thing III
the history of Republican politics IN
this State. To say the least, it l. one
of the results of the illadNi>cd biennial
feature inauglr;ted into our Comstitu-
ton two Years ago. Had the old SN>-
tem-as old as the State of annual
elections been in force il never would
have happened. 1t may. therefore. he
taken as Il sort of fist fruits of that
unfortunate innovation. W hat the
further fruits MAY hc, will doubtless he
disclosed before the campaign is ended.
Until now the Republicans of Yer
mont have had Ii WAY of settling down
with almost entire lIlanlmltN upon then
candidates for State officers III advance
of the nominating Conventions. but
this wear Il new and not 10y ANY mc;lns
welcome feature has been introduced,
to wit: that of employ ing agents. paid
or unpaid, ii matters not which. vino
have traNtrSrd the State cmdca\"rin4
| to make capital in the Interest of one
of the candidates. And still worse tia,
| private and professional character al
another has been dISraI;tgin%lN dis
cllSS,d in some of the pal"i>. One oi
! them went 81 far a. to put gross and
vulgar caIicatuIrs of the executive oi
/ the State 1t WIS such acts Is these
So unknown and :" unth"ughl of i'll Yer
mont politics. that set the fur of Nh
| Stew arts friends. and determined then
to defeat 10y any fan means the parIl'''
who were guilty al them.
/ Ii WAS the earnest Wi~h ut many ut TIA,
true and = "nimc II men al the party
tina. Nh iilling> should Withdraw hnm
the canvass. E>runttrl the assembling
of the. DELEGATES of the Convention ca
dcaNul> We're made With that end II
view. Had their c"rn~rl> plcNHIl"d
Mr.. Stewart would have been n"ImI
mated l,l ;tcclamatI"n. and Nh. liIlllng'
would have. built ior himself an easy
WAY to the gnNcrnni>liIp III IL !. lie
IS popIIl.iI " here he j. know II. AMI tie
>erNtdl\ 81. He attracts men I" hun
self naturally. and holds them strongly
There i NO man in Vermont whom
tour iitth> of the Convention would llh,
better to see III the t,oNrlnur ChdI
than him. at the proper time: am'
scores of tlo>,. who voted against hin
on "Wednesday deeply Lament the fac
that that time may now never come
am happy /" believe. however. tha
this result with all the other uuplcd>
ant things which have come IL the sur
face during the canvass. H. attributable
more To the indi>crttIou> of the FRIENDS
of the two leading candidates than Il
the two gentlemen themselves.
HON. JILIU> ,oNNEE>E.
The man who - unexpectedly came ot
first best in the convention, and Nhn /
now the standard hraIcr of the RcPuh
lican party i'll Vermont, l. Il native "
Stratford. Conn. where he WAS born IL
December. I79-. Comiu" to Vernon
while in Youth. he read law with Hon
VIM Nuttng of Randolph. lie re-
moved to Wo"dstock. and still reside
there. He represented Bethel IN the
State Legislature in l-:Ei. and Wood
stock in u. II and ~. and again il
10 and u. In ~. 81. b and ~. Ii,
was one of the Senators from W lnd>"
county. In $50 he Was nominated aII'
elected Lieut.. Governor on the tICkr
with Judge Williams. and reelected II
l-5l. In ~ and 10, he Was rh">,l
States Attorney for the county "
Windsor.
1t will be seen that Mr.. Converse i
: in the 74th wear of his age. lci>, how
ever. in fine health and feels lightly tin
touch of the wears " hich iIc has seen
; He is genial. social. warm hearted. an,
noticeable ALWAYS for his g,utlrnIaul,
. 1. L..
universally esteemed, and will make
popular governor.
Mr.. Taft. the nominee tor Lieut.. GON
: erlIor. is II much Younger IMAM nclu!
perhaps something less than forty year
of age. He l. 10y profession Il lawyer
and resides at Burlington. He ha
served his county two terms III tin
state senate, and two Years a. states at
torneN. He will OF course he clcctr,
lieut.. governor, and will do the dutir
of his office ably and gracefully; and Il
wrote you III April last. would no
make bad governor should the par
TALLY of his friends call him Ia the Pc
Sition after his term ;S lieutenant gov
ernor expires. .NonipcIicr Correspond
ent Of Boston .jo"rnai.
Charge of Form--No Change of Spirit
The blockade runners. during tn
war. used t" approach our shores will
the national flag hoistcd. hoping To dis
arm suspicion, till il was too late topre
vent ingress. just So now the old I'm
changed Democracy have calculate,
that their only chance of sailing int,
power is under tbs white hat of Horace
Greeley. with which it is hoped to de
cei>e Republicans and attract new Va
!. ters. If the election were to follow i'm