The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-07-31
our seIectnen Defended.

To the Editor Of the Press:
| am not used to writing newspaper arti-
cles, but after reading in No. 80 of your val
liable paper what Mr.. Stickney has to say in
the Home Farm, about Selectmen, and know
ing that there was no class of men so low
and mean but what there was some re-
deeming feature about them, l thought it
was my duty, in my humble way, to defend
our unfortunate selectmen.
do not propose to differ with Mr.. Stick
ney as to the origin of the board of select
men, but do differ with him as regards the
qualifications of these men and l think the
people are to be congratulated that they are
usually so fortunate in the selections they
make at their annual town meeting, not only
in the choice of selectmen, but of all their
town officers. OF course there are mistakes
made and few of these mistakes having
come under the observation of Mr.. Stickney.
he has jumped at conclusions and gone into
print declaring that most of the officers choS-
en- at our town meetings are not such men as
should occupy such positions. Mr.. Stickney,
| beg to differ with you on this question, and
say that most of such men chosen are the
very best men in the towns in which they re-
side, and that very few of the class you men
ton ever find place on board of select
men.
There once lived in one of the northern
towns of Penobscot county a man by the
name of Getchell; he was not blessed with
many of this world goods and was not cap
able of judging a board of selectmen except
as to their ability of overseers of the poor
About dozen years ago, there was an eX-
citing town election in this northern town,
and the board chosen was rot the choice OF
Mr.. Getchell. A few days after town meet
ing he visited village in an adjoining town,
10 Oat taa and tolacpo and also tn get n
small vial filed with sure shot, (by the. way
the vial was two gallon Jug, and while in
the village someone asked him how town
meeting went in his, town. sc" says he
there All, says his questioner, who
there is VIM. L.--he is one, and there is
Sam H.-he's cypher and Sid Che is an
other cypher; and if one and two cyphers
does not make one hundred what does it
make?" l think Mr.. Stickney must have
heard this story and thought it would apply
to most town officers; and it may to the Off
GERS in his own town (Presque Isle, but he
cannot apply it to the most of the town Off
GERS in the State of Maine without some OBJ
lection being made.
cannot believe that he meant to be quite
so hard on the selectmen, because | notice
he says they (the selectmen) are not to blame
for being such men, but the people are to
blame for eecting them to office. And, too,
calls him, credit for being cunning. But the
second and third men he puts down as
nothings and fools. Now here he is mis-
taken again, for in most instances they are
able, intelligent and up and down men,
The figures Mr.. Stickney gives prove moth
ing. except as to the affairs of the towns to
which they refer, and not knowing anything
differently about either of the places mem
toned | take it for granted that they are cor
rect, and that there has been mistake made
But | an certain that it will soon be rectl-
fed, because | know that those towns are
composed of very intelligent people, among
whom Mr. Stickney ranks as one OF the hrst.
l think he will admit that he sometimes
makes mistakes; and think his article on
town officers is one of the mistakes.
There were two ancient philosophers; one
laughed and the other cried over the follies
of the world. The laughing one said to the
other, 'The world is depiorable, and you
weep; it is ridiculous, and | laugh" Mr..
Stickney tells Us that the one who laughed
was the wiser of the two; and think it
would be well for us all to laugh-that is, to
look on the bright side Of such things, and
not weep because we think the people of to-
day are not so good and intelligent as they
were in ''ye olden tines
The world moves on, and we hope that our
children and our children's children will
have as good an opinion of us as we have of
our fathers and grandfathers and we also
hope that they may have more confidence in
their fellow man, and not be bewailing them
selves that people are not now as they used
to be- G. w. STEPHENS.
PATTEN, Me-, July 49,