The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-04-24

in the fable who was the historian of
his own exploits and the foremost hero
of his story. The Z" dog and father
were there, but they were of no par
ticular account. True, the dog"
freed the game and father" fred the
shot that brought him down, but the
small boy stood by and hollered "
and took all the glory. Stripped of
fiction, this is about the size of the
late superintendent part in the con-
struction of the Montpelier building.
If he had frankly acknowledged that in
the business of bossing the democratic
contingent in Vermont he knew a
thing or two, and had had experience
in distributing federal patronage, but
that when il came to experimenting
the construction of fabric of stone
and mortar he didn't know an archi-
tect's drawings from a SPIDERS web,
but had the shrewdness to pick out
man of brains and experience to have
the real charge of the work, while he
stood round and holered" and drew
his pay and took what glory there was
if he had taken this view of the matter
the facts would have sustained him,
and people who now smile at his high
blown conceit would have respected
him for his candor. While he was
farming out the offices, fishing on Lake
Champlain, attending the national dem
ocratic convention, running the dem
ocratic campaign in Vermont and dane
ing attendance on democratic conclaves
between Montpelier, New York and
Washington, his lieutenant, Mr.. George
O. Brown, was faithfully and efficiently
looking after the work on the federal
building. The man bearing the tie
and drawing the pay of superinten Mt
was seen on the premises, for app r
ance's sake, only in the intervals of is
pernicious activity" in behalf of -
self and his chief at Washington. 50
much for the late superintendent as.
sumption of credit for what has been
done on the public building.
Editor Atkins either admits the truth
of what the WATCHMAN had to say of
disappointment Atkins, or shows by
his mental perturbation that it is all
true. He charges upon the Cleveland
administration the responsibility for
the slow progress of the work, and that
is safe thing to do. That administra-
ton is dead and is being made gen.
eral scape-goat for democratic folly and
failure. But no one has said that Mr..
Atkins is personally responsible for the
popular impression that Montpelier's
post-office building was to be sub
terranean structure. The way the work
was done was only characteristic
part of the democratic administration
whose prophet in Vermont Mr.. Atkins
was. He chooses to make this affair a
personal one, and like a pettifogger
with worthless case Tugs in lot of
outside matter to distract attention from
the real and indefensible point of at
tack. In all his personal accusations
we feel obliged, in the pertinent phrase
of the Brattleboro Ph@nir, /" to caution
Mr.. Atkins lest he fall into the bad
habit of lying" 1t is news to the
long suffering and indignant stock
holders " of the WATCHMAN Company
that Mr.. Ropes has been elected
| from the business control" of its af-
fairs. False in one accusation, false in
all, as our contemporary always is when
his anger, or his prejudices, or his
selfish interests sway him-and when
does not some one or all of these com,
bined dominate him? We have met
this mass of turbulence before. Like
many another of his kind, his bark is
worse than his bite.
We seek or shrink from no personal
controversy. We shirk no personal re-
sponsibility and assume no response
bility that belongs to others. In con-
clusion, and in this connection, it may
not be improper to state that, by rea
son of the pressure of business affairs
Orom the control of which the Arguu
says the editor has been "ejected "
some outside assistance has occasionally
been employed in the editorial depart
ment of the WATERMAN; that the article
which so stirred up the Argus editors
bile was neither written nor inspired
by Mr.. Ropes. The writer has thu
elbow touch of the community, and hi
article reflected local and general pub
lie sentiment as he found it. 1t wa
accepted by the gentlemen associated
with Mr.. Ropes in the control of tn,
paper as rather terse and pungen
presentation of some of the leadin!
facts of the situation. The publi
knows a thing or two, and it is no
necessary to follow the Argus through