Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-08-29

eiuuntiOng OF dishonesty, secret hostility
'Irsincerty,' "childishness," "disgraceful
conduct etc, etc, on the part Of those who
sec llt to differ with you precisely and idon
tically the same convincing and unnuswerable
arguments which wore used by the gentlemen
composing the old Wing and Democratic par
ties over 30 years ago, when John =. Hale,
Joshua r. Giddings, Abraham Lincoln, Chas.
Sumner and others, tired of fighting the cor
ruption of their parties from within, came out
from among them and said, THUS far but
no farther" And there they stood-a mere
handful between two mighty armies who
thought TO anuihiate them by dsriding them
aud calling them names. Perhaps thoy were
never compared with pigs" and still they
might have been. Political gentlemen in
those days were not always choice in their &C.
lection Of epithets and comparisons, any more
than they are at the present time.
Many Of our club mot majority perhaps,
but a large numbor-wore ia that fight and
know all about it. According to your own
admission, whilo we were boiling the cor
rupt men and measures Of our parties in those
times that tried mems souls aud aiding in
the formation of the Republican party, you
were yet unborn. Under the circumstances
perhaps it is no wonder you ask, "Whnt can
yop hope to gain by bolting2' You arc un-
doubleday honest in making this query, but
there arc thousands, yes, tens Of Thousands of
men in the party o-day who do not mood TO
ask'any such question. They know from ac-
tual experience what bolt means, and
what will be its effect il it's cause DO not re.
moved. To such we have no need 10 recall
the ante Republican days, but to the class you
claim to represent-"t younger citizens,
who next November will cast their first or
second presidential ballot, who arc personally
ignorant OF many past political events and is.
sues which largely dominate present thought
and action, but who are honestly seeking to
do their duties of citizenship wisely and efTec-
tively'-a bit Of political history with which
VIC are personally acquainted may not seem
out OF place.
Thirty-two years ago the two great political
parties Of the country, the Wing and the Dem
ocratic, had drifted so nearly together upon
the then vital and paramount question Of the
extension and perpetuation Of human slavery.
and were so obviously drifting in the wrong
direction, that the sober thinking men of both
parties began to look about them for some
way Of escape from the responsibilities which
had been thrust upon them by their party
leaders and which they could not conscien-
tiously assume. The result was the formation
Of the Free Soil party-the forerunner of the
present Republican party--with John Z. Hale
as its candidate for President. Then, as now.
we were told that our action was not only
useless but ridiculoug-thst we could not hope
TO accomplish anything except to throw away
our votes then, as now, we replied that time
would determine as to the wisdom or folly of
our course Then, as now, we were told that
one Of two candidates must be elected then.
as now, we replied Not by our help" Then.
as now, we were urged to choose the least Of
two evils, aud thus put down the greater
then, as now, we replied that 30 long as there
was good TO be voted for we could not vote
for the least nor any, evil. Then, as now.
we were asked what we expected to gain by
boiling the regular nominee Of the party and
supporting candidate 1t was impossible TO
eject then, as now, our reply was that ve
expected to gain the approval Of our own con.
science. The result proved the wisdom of
our course for, although but about l50. 600
votes were polled for our candidate in a total
OF over 5000, 600 so large and frequent were
the Rccessions TO our ranks that the "boltersr
of 1852 became the Republican party of 1886.
which four years later elected its candidate
for President, under whose administration il
'freed our nation from the foul blot Of human
slavery and enfrGnchised four millions of 10y
oil citizens.
Was ever result 80 glorious the outcome Of
efforts apparently 30 insignificant How
long, think you, would We have had TO wait
for this If the men Of '52 had followed your
advice and stayed within their parties and
voted the regular nominations They had
protested for years with no result, but when
they began to act as well as talk. to vote as
well as protest. the beginning Of the end APP
peared.
Reform within the party"f whon-where
-how-by whom The whole history Of
political parties since the formation Of our
government shows this to be an utter impos.
sibility-nay more, ridiculous absurdity.
What do the party leaders care how loudly
you protest against an unfit nomination. how
bad you feel about il or how long Won feel
badly, II only on election-day you give your
manhood a vacation, pocket your protests. cat
your little dish Of crow, and vote the regular
tioketT What do such kind OF protests
amount to- Nothing but words, empty words,
which pass by as the idle wind, and are re-
garded not.
In conclusion we desire to call attention 10
ooe statement in your letter-a matter. as we
believe, OF paramount importance-to which
we heartily and unroservedly assent You
say that you feel that Mr. Blaine has been
and still IS connected with men who represent
the corrupt elements Of the Republican par
ty." We feel this to be true, and hence our
opposition to him. We hold that no man
who has taken the freemAn's oath has any
right morally or legally, TO vote for any man
who represents the corrupt elements of the
party, or who is connected with the men who
do. II ii not for the best interests of the
state or nation that ouch men should be elect
81 10 Office. So believing, We can never give
our support to Mr. Blaine nor the class OF
men which he represents II this takes US
out Of the Republican party, temporarily or
permanently, 80 be H. We will not support
for any Office a man who for any reason is no
toriuusly unified for it. We believe in car
rying conscience into politics, "a elsewhere,
aud so believing VIC vote accordingly.
And now, 10 sum up the whole case in one
sentence we differ from you in this respect
You oppose corrupt measures and corrupt
men by sticking to the party and voting for
them VIC by voting against them and letting
the party look out for itself