Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-09-05
The Maine Democracy,

The very dickens is TO pay among the dem
ocrats of the Pine Tree state. Their state
platform contained not single idea save
repetition of the stale cutlery which de-
nounces the election of President Hayes as
the most monstrous fraud recorded in his
nominated acandidate for Governor who had
sense enough to sec the stupidity of this
vapd stuff. When Mr.. Williams came to
write his letter of acceptance he declared
that he did not interpret this expression as
any impeachment of the Presidents title.
If there was any fraud, he said, IL was in the
states, and not in the action or Within the
review of the electoral commission. But il
has aroused furious storm among the dem
ocratic papers and representatives. Many of
them openly denounce their candidate for
Governor, while none defend him. The
Bangor Commercial which takes the lead in
acrd opposition, embodies its scornful and
wrathful indignation in an imaginary speech,
which it puts into the mouth Of one of the
old leaders of the party. "The democrats
Of Maine,' it tells Mr.. Williams, "will never
vote for any author of that most monstrous
political fraud recorded in history nor for
any indorsers of it. Strike that paragraph
from your letter of acceptance or take at the
polls on the tenth day of September the re-
buke that you will both merit and receive"
Mr.. Williams is wiser than his party, which
may be accounted for by the fact that until
recently he was a Republican. He at
tempted to lift it up out Of the slough in
which it is sunk. But the Bourbons will not
permit themselves to be lifted up. They pre-
fer to go on in their old folly to their old fate
The New York World is entirely satisfied
with Mr. Williams statement of the posi-
ton of the democratic party toward the
President, and reinforces that statement by
the following argument at is entirely pos
sible that frauds should have been commit
ted in any or in all of the states which sent
mp a certificate alleging the choice of Mr.
Hayes, without enabling Mr. Hayes to bring
their case before the Electoral Commission
in such way as to defeat his election, UNI
der the rules on which the Electoral Commits
sion was organized, and on which it acted
The decision was left to the Electoral Com
mission by Congress, and the reference was
urged beforehand and acquiesced in after
wards by great majority of the moderate
men of both parties. 1t is silly as well as
unfruitful to attempt reversing that decision
now. There is no tribunal to which an APP
peal can be had. The lack of such a tribunal
impelled the best and most patriotic members
of Congress of both parties to form a new APP
pellate tribunal in the Electoral Commission.
Both parties the Republican with more re-
luctance than the democratic, acquiesced in
the formation of that tribunal, and neither
party is now entitled to challenge the de-
cision. The democrats of all states feel
themselves aggrieved by the decision of the
Electoral Commission. But the democrats
OF no state have as yet been silly enough to
propose that an arbitrament to which they
had consented should be set aside simply be-
cause the results of that arbitrament did
not please them"