Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-10-16
THE LEGISLATIVE REUNIoN AND ITS
RESULTS.

LMontpclicr Cor. Boston IIerald.l

A Breezy Account-Facts and Fancies.
montpelier Cor. Boston IIerald.l
OF the 1000 past and present legislators
at the reunion, not more than fifty were
Democrats of the 800 politicians present
to give them advice, only two were Demo-
crats-Messrs. w. H. II. Bingham and
Hiram Atkins, and they spent their time
in intriguing against Mr.. Edmunds The
legislative reunion was originally got up
by Mr. Bachelor and his friends for the
purpose of making him governor, and it
was good political idea. Our towns are,
for the most part, isolated farming com
munties which do NOT meet together eX-
Cept once in two years when the cOnven-
tons are held and the legislature sits. 1t
difficult, therefore, to get hold of peO-
| Die during the vacation" and no better
means could be devised than u reunion of
resent and past membrrs of the legi la
ire at Montpelier in the fall of the loft
ear Having control of the machn-
Dy, only Mr.. Bachelor and his friends
'rrd be made prominent, and everything
c uld be worked to their advantage.
na was the scheme. The trouble with
ie thing was that it didH't quite work.
Ne results are that the Bachelder Fuller
| Machine is in dilapidated condition. and
he anti-Edmunds attachment is as hard
o find as the remains of the cele-
| rHlcU 'Onp moss SntlN. Like OIutT
men. renowned in history, they started II
movement greater than they could man
lge or to express the same idea in the
| Vermont vernacular, they bit off more
than they could chaw."
Just how or where the Bachelor ma
chine and the anti-Edmunds machine be-
came connected it is of course, difficult to
say to certainty. There is pretty good
authority for saying that the Influence of
New York friends of Mr.. Blaine upon
| Mr.. Bachelor, who does considerable
| legal business in Troy and Albany, had
| something to do with it. 1t was said
more than once during the reunion, by OPP
/ pnnents OF Mr. Edmunds, that the friends
of Mr. Blaine III other States desired Mr.
/ EdmuudS to be defeated, on account Of
his conduct during the presidential cam
paign, and one of them was sharply re
/ buked therefor by farmer legislator
whom he tried to convert. and was told
that Vermont was accustomed to choose
her officers without outside interference.
But the great reason undoubtedly Tor he
alliance WAS the need which each felt for
help. Whatever the motives We're, it was
apparent to close observers as early as
last June that the two machines were
united and by the LIST of August it was
seen that the Democratic machine was
working with them. The Democratic
party in Vermont is controlled by b. b..
Smalley, w. II. II. Bingham and Hiram
Atkins, their authority being in the order
in which they are named. Nobody can
blame them for making the alliance, for
/ they have everything to gain and nothing
to lose of any account. But 1t Is amaZ-
ing that men rs sharp as the managers of
the anti-Edmunds movement, not to men
ton Mr.. Bachelor and his friends,
should have gone into it, especially so
early in the campaign. The way in which
the Democratic managers were to help
them was in the election of representa-
tives to the legislature. In lucky year
there are about forty Democratic mem
berS of the legislature, of whom about
three-fourths will generally vote as the
triumVirate order. SO there would be
thirty votes in hand anyway. In all of
the towns of the state there are more or
less Democratic voters. 1t was proposed,
in all towns where it was feasible to have
the Democratic voters aid the
Anti-Edmunds Republicans
in the election of their candidate, who
would he run against the regular nomi-
nee of the Republican party, In this way
1t was hoped to get the control of the next
Legislatures But all deals of this kind
should be made as late in the campaign as
possible, for leaks do occur, even in the
"heSt regulated families y and here MIR.
Atkins gave the thing away lie has
made no secret for years of the fact that
he and all other Democrats, great and
small, would like very much to have Mr..
EdmundS out of the United States Senate,
nor, unfortunately for his allies, has he
made any secret of the fact that he was
going To he p them do ii at this time In
the manner above described. He proba-
bly, told twenty men I'm confidence of
what was up during the first twenty four
hours of the reunion, and wherever he
went, he openly talked against Senator
Edmunds all the time. 1t was amusing
} to see the horror and indignation with
which an honest old Republican from
Orange comfy, who was member III
1850, saw Mr. Atkins and Warren Gibbs
the editor of the st. Adams Messenger
and chairman of the Republican State
committee, comforting earnestly to
gether in il recess of the Pavll
ion hotel last Thursday afternoon.
When it was made evident that Mr.. At
kins and his associates were helping Ger
tain Republicans to defeat Mr.. Edmuuds
the reaction was immediate. The current
. turned in the Senator's favor from that
moment. He could have no better rec
concentration in Republican eyes thau
that the Democrats were praying for hi-
defeat. They are accustomed To act on
the old saw, "WMtcycr your enemies
want You to DO, that br sure and not du.
The nam" of Governor Smith has been
banded uruuud good deal as The chlri
q competitor for thc succession 10 Air. Eli
. muule. Injustice bats been done to Llu
. sometimes by the manner i'm which tu,
thing has been started. Undoubtedly
Governor smith would Ike To goo To th,
Senate. II Is am honorable ambition, and
, he has right to entertain H.
Mr.. BaChelder and his friends knew
that Governor smiths influence would b,
very valuable to them, if they could get it
} and they reasoned that the best way To get
. it was To appear to support him for the
+ Senate. | say, appear for their prima
+ ny and bottom" object was and is IN,
achievement of their own projects.
= Governor Smith came to the reunion on