Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-08-20
CAPT. START AT WATERBURY.


To the E.litor of the Free Press and Times:
The untcrrifed had meeting in the hall
of Bishops Hotel at Waterbury, Saturday
evening. The hall was well filled by very
respectable looking people, among whom wa.
quite a sprinkling of ladies. The principal
speaker was Capt. Start Of your city. who.
after tribute TO the memory of the late 5
J. T., and for the repOse of lis soul, repeat
ed the old. old story of his being dcfrauded OF
| the Presidency most UNANIMOUSLY This
seems one of the strangest and most dismal
developments of Democratic feeling There
was undoubtedly fraud enough at the las.
| Presidential election, rs there always
| is and there was intimidation enough
and n man must be endued with
remarkable wisdom who can tell whether
fraud or intimidation did the most toward
| determining the final result Can anv man
| reasonably doubt that, If every freeman at the
I South hal been permitted to vote as he
would. llr HAYES would have been
! tIilianhanly clectc4-s WHO can tel Xllseerl
| the most fraud was practised, and by whom?
Who can caDdidiy affirm that of the fifteen
of the electoral commission, seven were al
ways honest, and eight always dishonest? 1t
seems to be a very good way Ia avoid a great
| peril to commit the solemn question to a
| tribunal intended and assumed to he the best
| qualified to decide it: Why should those
who were disappointed keep up L continual
howl over the result ? Moreover reader,
what did YOU and | have To do with it =?
Who established the electoral commission 3.
Mr.. Start proceeded, after the customary
lament. to elaborate the statement of Gov
Phelps, and tried to convince us that the solid
South was made solid by Mr.. Phelps's al
legged eternal hate" of that down-trodden
section on the part of Northern Republicans
The Souiherners, he said, are solid because Re
publicans hate them so I; because soldiers once
guarded their polls, and attempted to coatrol
| their elections; because the white people
were put under their former slaves; who
raised Ned in Southern legislation. | do
not quote but give, in part, the Substance of
the speech. Among the results of
this sectional feeling, the gallant
Captain referred TO the building of factories
at the South. Whether he thinks il an evil to
| that oppressed section. | do no, know. |
should suppose he would regard it as 4 bless
ins One would think from the manner in
which he treated the subject. that he was
trying to persuade the people Of Vermont
| that they ought to vote for the Democratic
party so as to silence that appalling noise of
Southern spindlcs. He did not tell us who
started those spindles, but struck us dumb
with astonishment and terror in anticipation
| of that awful desolation that would come
upon us when the stirring music of our man
| ufactories should be forever hushed in con-
| sequence of the eternal 'hate' of the Repub-
leans. of which this new industry at the
South is the result | inferred that ii the
| Democratic party should come into power
again. the Southerners would return to cot
ton and sugar agriculture, AMI we of the
North would he able 10 cherish the sheep
once more Ii however, we should persist
entity keep hold of the helm Of Government;
and elect Garfield what will become of our
diversified industries Some Of Us thought
1t good sign Of revival, growth and pros
perity, that some of our industries are plant
cd where the cotton grows The CAPTAINS
address seemed to me an amusing appeal 10
our seliishncss We must elect Hancock or
the South will yet outstrip us in the raca for
wealth and independence. What effect
would such view produce beyond the old
pcrishins Mason and Dixon'S line d. Ills
praise OF Hancock met with 4 hearty
response, although some of u wondered
what had become of Meade, Reynolds,
Stannard, and others Of the heroes of Get
tvsburGh. II seems Hancock ,hl il MI pretty
much. lie did nohiv, no Tl'S;aic, but we
must not fGrEct the deaf Soldiers. in our
devotion to the livinr. Oar orator aillycd
all our anxiety about any changes TO the
three great Amendments, or the pcns!IninS
of rebel soldiers, or payment OF the rebel
debt. by assuring us that it could not be done
without violating the Constitution, and if at
tempted, the gallant Union general would
put his heel upon such an absurdiiy. The
Captain thinks the Democrats cannot he such
focls-I hope not. He MAKE deserved at
tack upon our Vermont LEGISLATION in regard
to taxation To he sure, he did not tell us.
h.., ,iVbt Iaxa Il, hot
tila has been male necessary mainly TO meet
thu cost of putting down the Rebellon-that.
in part, it is to protect ourselves against pes
tifyrous tramp., and provide Tor naughty
children home where, if possible, they may
be made useful citizens and Kept from Grim
inll deprcdltiOns. 1t seemed TO me he GHgA-
in all honesty, to have told us how We came
by our debts and consequent increased taxa
ton. The gross injustice of our method of
taxation. especially i'll the making up of our
grand list. was well exposed, although |
never knew before that the Democrats hal
paid especial attention To this miserable
policy, for which, Of course, Republicans
are responsible, since they have long hail the
power 10 reform the evil,
From what | have known by observation
arn unable Ia entertain the hope that the
Democrats. If in coutr,.. at our legislation.
would do anything IL rclirvc Us. THrif
leaders are mcn who take care ci themselves
first. as well rs ours. After The close Of his
speech, he called ont Col Bailey, who re
.,alc,, Us with considerable bosh and an at
tack upon the tariff ON account of which
We farmers have 10 pay 81 much for wha,
we buy, My nho could IL, ii things
were cheaper than they are,
When Captain Start called upon his broth
or Democrats L. rise and cheer for Han
cock anal English, | was astunished To
scr how few arnsc. Whether the name Of
ENGLISH wet down their ardOr or whether
the majority of the crowd were Republicans.
| III not know, hut most certainly the ma
iority Kept their seats. The Captain is going
Ia know very sonn who is TO win. for he re-
minded Us Of Woodford's prophecy that it
The Republican majority in Vermont falls
below 10000 We are gone UP.
Wen, these quadrennial campaigns in
spite of their evils, are good thing. The
people are stirred up, debtors partially for
get iheir burdens, and creditors are softened.
and the people enjoy the benefit of long
holiday. VIAroR,