Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-07-24

letter is somewhat hastily and Incorporate
II writton-~but perhaps "Veritas" is young |
man, aud will no doubt gain, with age and
experience, that degree of candor and fair
ness which every man must possess, who
wishes 10 convince people Of the truth of his
statements or the soundness Of his ldeas.
Let us look at the letter itself. There seems
10 he voin Of sarcasm in the question "doos
he (Stanford) think the voters Of tho
second district are unable TO read the papers
or to comprehend the doings OF their SER
wants at Washington" Certainly not. They
are Intelligent thinking men, men who can
distinguish between argument and bur-
lesquc, (perhaps "Veritas' Is an cxception)
aud who are sufficiently acquainted with the
last few years to separate truth from fiction,
even in the bitter letters which have APP
penred against MIR. Poland in the FARMER,
The confession of"Veritns" "thnt he had
hitherto boon preJudced against tho present
representative Is not of the slightest conse-
quence 10 any Vermonter except himself
The manifest ill-tempored 'sore- headedness"
he displays is not likely TO commend his
judgment to tho confidence oil amy man of in
tcligenco. Ills confession that "he has
read with great modification the censures
heaped upon him (Mr. Poland) by the lead
ing journals of the country" will cause u
smile to appear on the faces Of his moro in
tellgent friends who, being better read, will
wonder where their champion procured his
historical Information, and right here, in
ordor that we may not be so delightfully."- in-
| L.. a.. oN Lot
look Mt Mr.. Poland's connection with the
Credit Mobilier committee. AS will be re-
membered, immediately alter tho Presiden-
lial election of 1872 charges of bribery and
corruption were made against many ropub-
lican representatives; among others so
charged was Speaker Blaine. On December
2d, 1872, the speaker, n republican, left the
chair, calling to it $. S. Cox, one of the most
rabid democrats in the House, then address
ing the House stated rs u reason for calling
Mr.. Cox to tho chair, that the charges were
almost entirely against republican members,
and suggested that committee should DO
appointed Of which majority should be
democrats, so that, spurrcd on by partizan
feelings, the committee should thoroughly
and completely investigate the whole mat
ter. 1t was in fact suggesting that republi-
can members should be tried by the opposi-
ton. In response to this suggestion, Mr.
Cox spoke rs follows. 1.-THE present occu-
pant of this chair having been advised be
, forehand that he would be called upon to act
in this matter, has had time enough to select
. n committee which he submits rs u result
of his best judgment, having in view tho Sc
curing of fair aud impartial investigation
The names were then read by tho clerk, nnt
Mr.. Poland was appointed chairman of thu
committee on which there was only one re
publican besides himself. Two partizaI
journals in Now York bitterly opposed thu
selection Of the committee and attempted Il
destroy its usefulness before IL had begun III
Work. From those papers "Veritas" quotes
his catch-words and would imply that tn
( whole press Of the country bitterly denounc
J.. cd the actual work Of the committee. Tn
opinion Of Mr.. Cox, who was most bite
opponent of Judge Poland's party. rs is quot
ed above, is sufficient testimony to that gen
tlemans character and ability TO do his wor
J, faithfully and well, and rs these things re
g suited in the startling disclosures OF whic
9 you. sir. are aware, and in the final recon
mendation of Mr.. Poland's committee, "ths
" James Brooks and Oaks Ames bc expelled
= from their seats rs members Of the House,
wo may conclude that we have no particu
: lar reason for being ashamed of the chair
u man Of that committee and right here ALLOW
me to ask who it was that this committe
!. "whitewashsda" Let "Veritas," instead G
clearing SO much ground at u jump, confin
himself 10 single issue. Perhaps Ames an
Brooks were whitcwashed in the scathin
l. report which Mr.. poland made OF them.
a Again, the confession that it was with o.
is tremo modification that l read his lette
stating his reasons for returning his none.
into the treasury" must have been humi
10 iatipg one for "Vcritasn to make, for 1t sin
u ply implies that he does not have clea
10 conception of tho English language "Ver
% tas" might write an excellent novel. b'
n. would hardly be credible historian.
: observe in n letter signed IA Farmer" III
- sentence: In years gone by our congress
70 men did not expect life lease of Office; thu
l. roiated like other officers" Half true; In
false. The poor ones rolated-thc best wer
continually in Office. Cut tho leaves
your history and SEQ what your predecessor
did, They chose Jacob Collamer, of the So
ond district, to represent them nineteo
Mt years. Samuel Foot, Of Addison County, Wi
If in Congress nineteen years, Prontiss twel'
~ years, Phelps fourteen years, Upham fou
&C. teen. years. Passing outside our mario
NJ state limits. Webster represented Ma
of sachuselts for nineteen years. Davis Il
ol. same state fourteen years, Sumner twent
Le. four years, and would have been returne
IN. had he not been elected Vice Presider
nd Chandler eighteen years, Wade eighte'
ia years, and so on. Hero are but few in
Il long list OF names of distinguished publ
in men. Let "A Farmer" remember that tho
he are historical facts, and that in campai!
like the present ono it is better TO write VIII
lb- ono knows than what ono thinks.
nit would DO glad to compare the ''publ
as record" of Col. Mead with that of any d
an tingushed mon II such course were pos
an bio. 1t would be like comparing the ba
ng side OF nm ordinary gravestone with yolur
m of history. To tell tho truth, havn't disco
,ur cred his record. do not doubt that
in. Mead is an honorable and upright man, b
no Mr. Poland's political integrity, coupled wi
int his wisdom and sagacity, seems to recO
,as mend him 10 our suffrages. STAMFORD
ex- Editor Of the Vermont Farmer -
lod The all-absorbing topic in the second c.
4