davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
GrOub. as a Legislator.

The eXtravagant claims made for
General Grout, on the score of impor-
tant services rendered his constituents
in congress, are forcing out some
queries of practical nature. The
records have been searched for sue
cessful measures, public or private,
which he has championed. Claims are
easily made; the work of substantiating
them is diaicult. Peoples judgment
in this respect may be sometimes
warped by favors received, official or
personal.
We have been disposed to allow the
claims made in General CIRCUITS behalf
to 90 unchallenged, but when these
claims are put forward, as they have
been by some of his partisans, to be-
little and depreciate Colonel Hooker,
we feel compelled to protest and to APP
peal to the record. Among his late
schemes take, for example, his $780,
600 g Zoo" for the District of Colum-
pid-~tll w pO pau ~ INV PSNPASf
nothing by the District-quite recently
squelched; his 100000 Philadelphia
monument scheme is little short of
silly. His plan for election OF post
masters-where is it2 1t was an old
exploded thing when he took it up
unwise, impracticable and unconstitu-
tioual. Under it no Union man could
hold the office at the Southland for
that matter in some sections of the
North.
General Grout is unfortunate in
drafting bills. Even his private pen
sion bills-the " best hold of his ad-
vocates among the veterans-thopgh
simple in form, are very often radi-
cally amended if favorable report is
made. Here is a case in point 1t
may be found in the house proceedings
for May 2S, 1886. He had introduced
bill giving pension to one Sat lily b,
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
Carroll =. Page.

It must be remembered that the
great increase in state expenditures,
the figures of which the WATCHMAN
has given, has not been att5hded by a
corresponding increase in the popula-
ton of the state. 1t is the fruit of an
unwise policy in legislation and admin
istration. Carroll S. Page is the repre-
sentative of the element that demands
reform and economy in the state
government, the encouragement of YER
mont interests and the rebuilding of
her industries. His whole life, his
private and public career, his freedom
from cligues and rings, are a sure guar
antee of a radical reform, of the insti-
tuting of an upbuilding, thorough going
business policy. His unpretentious
mode of life is an encouragement to
his neighbors. No young man was
ever led into eXtravagant ways of liv-
ing by the example of Carroll S. Page,
and no man, young or old, ever had
better exemplar of open-handed, help
full, judicious liberality. A wholesome
atmosphere, pure as the breezes of the
Vermont hills, surrounds his home life,
and correct rules of practice guide all
his public and business transactions.
He is Vermonter in every fiber. His
business, all his investments, all his in
terests, all his hopes and aspirations
are in and for Vermont. He has
shown what enterprise, sagacity, push
and originality may do in Vermont.
OF such are ali Yermont's hopes for
the future, Alert, practical, vigilant,
keen Of intellect, of rock.ri0bed in
tegrity, full of resources, rich in expert
ence, of nndaunted courage and reso-
luton, he is, far and away, one of the
best-endowed and best-equipped men
in the entire state for the Office of
governor at this time.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

Grout which so surprised " his col
leagues. Vermont's product for that
year was II ,261 OF pounds of sugar
and 128,091 gallons of molasses, equiva-
lent to about - 100000 pounds of
sugar. General Grout seems to have
been caught mapping in this matter,
and, according to the Ph@nir, was only
half informed as to the extent of the
industry whose cause he had cham.
pioned. A bounty of two cents would
bring to the farmers of Vermont
S265,0 annually, or about enough to
pay the annual expenses of the state
government. This was a matter that
was worth looking after very sharply,
in season and out of season. 1t should
have been left to no chance. The
Louisiana and western people took no
chances on their sugar. Vermont did
and lost-up to date.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

under police escort he could get no in
formation. The men are treated with
ridicule and contempt on all hands.
The New York papers can have the
credit of being responsible for this
state of things. They raised great
hue and cry just before the enumera-
ton began about the impertinence
of some of the questions. This was
enough to put the ignorant and Grim
inal into a position of open defiance.
Census work is very difficult and deli
cate at best, and it needed the co-opera-
ton of all intelligent people. The
value of census reports grows greater
all the time, but there will always be
men who can not see the use of it all.
1t is pity that some of these men run
newspapers.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

PRESIDENT ELIOT of Harvard Uni
versity suggests that that institution
reduce its academic course from four to
three years, and in all probability the
proposition will be staple subject for
discussion in educational circles for a
time. While tbs going on, those inter-
ested can watch the success of the very
same idea at Columbia. Without any
noise at all this institution has adopted
a system closely resembling the Ger
man university plan, by which the first
three years of the course are devoted to
general disciplinary, literary and scien-
tilic studies, while in the fourth year
students can begin work in one of the
professional schools or continue on
much the same work as that formerly
pursued in the senior year. The plan
seems To give more variety of choice
and at the same time takes away moth
ing from the old course. At Columbia
the degree of bachelor of arts is
reached no earlier than formerly, but
Presidents Eliot's plan, as reported,
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

THE esteemed Herald of Rutland is
informed that its issue of Monday,
June 2, was received al this office the
following day. The WATCHMAN's col
umns were at that time filled. The
Herald'S article on Mr.. Pages fnan-
cial policy was read "by title only"
1t has been so fully answered by the
News and Citizen that nothing is left
for the WATCHMAN to do. The fact
that the legislature of 1884 and not Mr..
Page, who was not even a member of
the general assembly, made the law,
and the further fact that Mr., Page was
not appointed inspector of finance till
almost the last hour of the session of
1884, entirely knocks the bottom out OF
the Herdld'S elaborate article. The
real animus of the Herald in respect of
Mr.. Page was indicated in our article,
and is more fully disclosed by the ex-
tract from the Fair Hdren Era among
our Press Notes.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

LET no one be disquieted by stories
of Colonel Hooker's inability TO carry
his own town and county. Both will
be solid for him. No man is more
popular at home. Men like DIR. II. d.
Holton, Colonel Levi X, Fuller, George
S. Dowley, the banker, and others of
similar stamp-farmers, mechanics,
business and professional men, leading
citizens of Brattleboro-will present
his case at Montpelier. Delegations
of similar strength and character will
come from all the towns of Old Wind
ham. He is strongest where he is
best known and don't you forget it,
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
The History of "PrOmOtion."

From 1873 to 1884 four lieutenant
governors were promoted directly to
the governorship, and the practice had
become an established custom. The
governorship was sought through the
back door of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ship, and the contest was for the minor
office. A "ring" was formed to can
ture this office, and it was mortgaged
for nearly a generation in advance.
The mortgage was raised F." in 1886.
Do the people of Vermont wish to put
a new mortgage on the chief executive
Office? Prior to 1878, just an even one
hundred years, there were only three
cases of promotion, one less than dur
ing the eighty years following 1873. The
first was in 1888, during the anti-Mason
excitement, when Silas II. Jennison,
elected acknowledgements became
governor through the non-election of
the chief executive. The second was
in 1856, when Acknowledgements
Ryland Fletcher, in the fusion of the
whig and abolition parties into the re-
publican party, was accepted as the
candidate for governor. The third
was in 1865, when Paul Dillingham;,
who had renounced modern democracy.
was advanced to the governorship. 1t
is noteworthy circumstance that
General stephen Thomas, the grizzled
hero of many hard-fought field,
who was ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS from 1857
to 1865, has never been brought for
ward for the governorship by the
doughty shriekers for the rewards of
patriotism who are now so disinterest-
edly booming the candidate of the Bur-
lington combine. And yet General
Thomas was fairly patriotic and saw
some military service, we believe. He is
not deficient in ability, but he never had
a way of pushing himself to the 'front.'
politically. 1t is not matter of surprise
that many a veteran has borne puZ-
zled look as he has read, during this
campaign, the glowing eulogies of mill
itary valor and the rewards it should
have. Some of them are wondering
how the discovery of martial heroism is
made and on what principle the re-
wards are distributed.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

FARMERS of Vermont, read what
another farmer, " A Member of 49,"
says of the WATCHMAN's statement of
General CIRCUITS part in multiplying in
the legislature your great victory at the
polls in 1886. The veracous ST. Johns
bury Republican calls it ga WATCH
MAN lie," and the Brattleboro PhmniT
seeks to discredit the statement as the
work of an anonymous writer. The
WATCHMAN is responsible for the
statements. If any one has doubt as
to their strict accuracy, let him write
John L. Barstow of Shell
burne. There was nothing "anony-
nous " in the narrative or its sponsor.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

WHY tax the people of Vermont and
the country at large to buy kangaroos
for the District of Columbia? General
Grout proposed to congress to spend
100000 for Zoo garden in Wash
ington, but, as usual, the bill did not
pass. Why should the representative of
the second district of Vermont intro
duce a bill granting nearly half million
dollars for centennial monument in
Philadelphia? When the bill was intro
duced Randall and Kelley were alive,
and had they not been Philadelphia has
representatives enough to look after
her works of art. You don't find them
sitting up nights working for or worry
ing about Vermont interests. The bill
failed, as usual. By the way, whom does
General Grout represent, anyway? Ger
tainly not Vermont. Now let the sec
ond district go in for representative
of its own. Colonel Hooker is the man.
Send Hooker delegates to the conven-
ton next week.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
Mattbman 4 Journal.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE II, 1890.
The Caucuses.

Freemen of Vermont, stand by your
gallant leader, c. S. Page, at the eau
cuses next Saturday. Show your APP
probation of such a leader by being
early at the primaries with your friends
and neighbors. There is where your
votes count. BE active and vigilant.
Beware of surprises and look out for
interlopers.
Republicans of the second district,
see that delegates are chosen who will
vote for man who will represent
YOU and YOUR INTERESTS in
congress. Be sure of the time for
holding the caucus and be on hand.
Eternal vigilance is the price of lib
ertyl
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
That MORktOn Caucus.

'The first gun for Woodbury. - was
the headline of the Free Press over a
long dispatch announcing the result of
the caucus of Wednesday evening at
Monkton. An editorial paragraph, in
an exultant vein, supplemented the
cheering boom of the " gun " at Monk
ton, and the result of the caucus was
telegraphed to the Boston journal to
fire the hearts of the Woodbury. adher-
ants. The Page men remarked upon the
coincidence of this circumstance wi tn
the fact that the confederates got in the
first gun at Fort sumter, but the Union
forces had their Appomattox.
Later developments, however, showed
that the result of this caucus could
hardly be the subject of rejoicing by
honorable men. The facts, as reported
to us from the locality by person of
nnquestioned veracity, are to the effect
that the foreman of the Monkton
kaolin works went into the caucus,
taking with him the twenty or more
foreigners in his employment, and he
and his men voted, in spite of the pro-
tests of the republicans of Monkton.
This foreman was candidate for office
at the last election on the democratic
county ticket and is reported to be a
member of the democratic town COM
mittee. These intruders were on hand
early and secured the election of a
chairman who would run the caucus in
their interest They were there to
vote for Woodbury. delegates, and did
so vote. In addition to this, one who
voted in the caucus was the applicant
for the office of postmaster under Cleve-
lands administration, and in his appl-
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
The State Treasurership.

The newspaper statements that the
| bulk of the business of the state treas.
TRY is done with the bank with which
the treasurer is connected, and that i.
has largely profted by the state de-
posits, are very far from the truth
The facts are, as we learn on inquiry.
that only a very small part of the bust
ness is done with the bank with which
Mr.. Dubois is connected, but the prin-
cipal deposit is kept in the National
Bank of Redemption of Boston, on
which the state receives interest
monthly, at the rate of three per cent
per annum, and the bank does all the
collecting and business of the office
without charge. This is a larger rate
than is allowed to country banks on
their balances. Other moneys belonging
to the state are deposited in such ma
tional banks in Vermont as want it, and
will pay four per cent for its use. The
amount at this time drawing that rate
is over S66, 000 The deposit kept with
che bank with which Mr.. Dubois is
connected has now, and always has
had, only a small deposit of the states
money-just enough for the daily wants
of the office, and for payment from day
to day of such auditors orders as are
sent TO that bank for payment. The
average amount on deposit in that bank
for the past three years, by actual figures
from the books of the treasurer's office,
has been only $4,000. Previously the
average was less rather than greater.
AT the end of week the entire amount
would be absorbed by orders on the
treasurer, so that the account has not
been profit to the bank to any greater
extent than are the deposits of or
binary business firms.
Mr.. Dubois wide acquaintance in
financial centers has enabled him re-
peatedly to borrow money for the use
of the state at three or three and one
half per cens on time suited to the needs
of the state. In every respect the man
agement of the states finances has been
in the interest of the state solely, and
not Of any bank in or out of the state.
1t is said Mr.. Dubois is rich and doesn't
need the pay of the office. Well, that's
knock-down argument. But what he has
he got honestly by thrift and industry,
such as have pervaded hisentire manage.
ment of the state finances. If he has the
leisure that enables him to devote his
time and give his direct personal atten-
ton to the business of the office, that is
the states good fortune, which it should
not lightly esteem or hastily throw
away. 1t is better so than to have The
business done by clerks, under the SUI
pervision of one, however competent,
whose time and thoughts are engrosaed
by other duties.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
Bent. After the enacting clause the
bill was as follows:

Bent. After the enacting clause the
bill was as follows
That the Commissioner Of Pensions "
hereby directed TO place on the pension
roll, subject to the limitations Of the pen
sion laws, the name Of Sally b. Bent, de-
pendent mother of David p. Bent, a soldier
of the Union Army in the war of the re-
bellion as shown by her application for a
pension, number 268, 4G2."
The pensions committee recon-
mended that the bill be amended by
striking out all after the enacting clause
and substituting the following;
"That the Secretary of the Interior be.
and hereby is, authorized and directed to
place on the pension roll, subject to the
provisions and limitations of the pension
laws, the name of Sally b. Bent, dependent
mother of David p. Bent, late private in
Company G., Fourth Regiment, Vermont
Volunteers, and that as 50 amended, the bill
do pass"
we are assured by individuals in
position 10 know that it has been mat
ter of common occurrence for the com
mittee =" to strike out all after the en-
acting clause" etc, in bills of this kind
introduced by the present member from
this district. We believe, in view of
all the facts presented, that the farmers,
old soldiers and business men of the
second district, in respect of this propo-
sition to return General Grout to con-
gress, will vote to amend by striking
out all after the enacting clause " and
inserting the name of George w.
Hooker in place of w. w. Grout, and,
when so amended, will recommend
that the proposition be ratified at the
polls in September.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
If Page men and newspapers would

If Page men and newspapers would
initiate the disreputable tactics of their
opponents, in publishing private and
confidential letters, they have abundant
opportunity. A veteran not thousand
miles from Montpelier received last
week an importunate letter from one
of Acknowledgements Woodbury's
Burlington whips exhorting him to be
sure and have all the Grand Army boys
out at the caucus, and impo sing the
pains and penalties of disloyalty to the
ties of comradeship upon all who re-
fused. This letter, the writer averred,
was written by the request of 8" state
official of high rank ito wit, Adjutant
and nspector-general Peck. And the
mails are full of similar letters.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11
The Maple Sugar Bounty.

In its anything to-beat Hooker zeal,
the Pbe3niT labors hard to excuse Gen
eral CIRCUITS failure or neglect to COM
NIT the ways and means committee to
the proposition that whatever might be
done for the cane of Louisiana and the
beet or sorghum sugar of the West
should be likewise done for the maple
sugar of Vermont and other states IN
the maple belt. For this failure PROF.
ably General GrOut is no more directly
to blame than any other member of the
Vermont delegation. It looks as if
there HAD been apathy or neglect all
along the line
But General Grout has posed as the
champion of the Vermont farmers, the
Moses who woUld lead them up out OF
the Egypt of their present discourage
ments. The PR@nir even credits him
with the authorship of the proposition
to put bounty on maple sugar. Very
likely there is more campaign thunder
than truth in this claim. We are COM
PEELED to disallow the plea of sickness.
made in excavation of General CIRCUITS
failure to labor with the ways ana
means committee in 3e0SOn-if at
all Captain Eldredge's testimony in
another column bears on this point.
The thing to do was to commit the
committee, at the Dsyy beginning,
to the proposition that maple SUI
gar, in respect of tariff legislation ,.
should always stand on a level
with cane, beet and sorghum. That
point established the bars were ap
against surprises or changes in the
sugar schedule. The Louisiana and
the western people seem to have been
on deck and guarded their interests at
every point, but the case of maple
sugar went by default. Sick or well,
no one seems to have been looking out
for it before the committee, and there
was the vital point. General GrOut, it
is understood, was erammed with sta
tistics to be used in the Congressional
Record and for distribution among his
Vermont constituents. His figures
might have saved the day for the Yer
mont farmers, if not for General Grout,
had they been seasonably fired into
the ways and means committee.
With charming credulity the Ph@nir
declares, in respect of the extent of
the maple sugar industry, that even
his Vermont colleagues were surprised
when General Grout showed them that
the total annual product is 25,0OO,OO0
pounds, and more than one-third of it
is made in Vermont" The only
authentic figures on this point are those
of the United States census. The re-
port for 1880 places the product at
3G,576, 06l pounds of sugar and l,796,04S
gallons of molasses, equivalent to a
total product of 50,000,000 pounds of
sugar, or double the quantity named in
the information given by General
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

CHAUNcBY M. DEPEW gave Chicago
some good, sound advice about the
coming worlds fair, at the press club
dinner in that city on last week Thurs
day evening. He said that there can
be no hesitation, no backwardness no
niggardliness in the matter" New
York will do her share toward making
the fair a success, according to Mr..
Depew. When the time comes, no
doubt every section of the country will
contribute generously and enthusi-
astically. Yet Chicago itself must be
the responsible factor, and it will take
all its resources and energy to make the
exhibition what it ought to be-
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

The appointment of mortgage
enumerat0r y in this state who only e1-
amines town records, to ascertain in
cumbranCes upon real estate, is mere
farce, so far as obtaining valuable m
formation for the government is con-
cerned. If the mortgages were all
recorded then the record would not
show partial payments, and when full
payments are made mortgages are not
always discharged on the record. Be-
sides, the census-takers, now at work,
are required to obtain the same infor-
nation respecting mortgages from in
dividuals Was the mortgage emu
merator" created in this district to
help other United States officials re-
nominate General Grout for congress?
1t would seem so, for Captain J. w.
Clark, who has received the appoint
ment to this new office, has not only
canvassed the different counties and
electioneered for Grout, but has been
in telegraphic communication with him
and his friends at Washington. He
has been supplying the newspapers
from Brattleboro to Canada line with
articles teeming with fulsome praise of
General CIRCUITS work in congress for
the farmer and the soldier. Parker
and Thompson, the authors of the
Washington literature, are native Yer
monters and personal friends of Gen
eral Grout This mortgage emu
merator " says he has done so much to
help soldiers to pensions that they
ought to rally to his support, but he
can not specify what he has done for
the soldier. An answer to the ques-
ton, what has Grout done for the
soldier2" by T. j. Deavitt, Esq, APP
pears in the Soldiers Budget ON the
sixth page of this paper.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-06-11

AT the outset we put, in the shape of
a bill of tangible public services and
demonstrated fitness, very large chip
on the shoulder of our candidate for
representative in congress for the Sec
ond district. None of our opponents
has had the hardihood even to attempt
to knock it off. Mean and hypocritical
personal attacks upon a candidate, or
his supporters, are a mighty poor sub
stitute for reason and argument.