The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-02-13
GREEN MOUNTAIN POLITICS.

hardly word has Oeen spoken Oy VI
papers of the State. The surface watel
are so calm that an outsider would nj
detect the boiling that is going on below
Things have been gradually, shapin
themselves, and to-day the fight owe
the gubernatorial nomination is clearl
mapedp out and generally understood
Two men are in the field, and one or tn
other will be the next Governor. 1t ha
been regarded as matter Of course
that Lieut.. Gov. q. A. Woodbury. woul
be one of these candidates. He had hi
eye on the Governorship when he pu
out his hand for the Lieutenant. Cover
norship. As matter of fact, however
about the worst thing that is said agains
Lieut.. Gov. Woodbury. is that he is Lieu
tenant-Governor. He is a soldier, and
popular soldier. Moreo-er, he is active
and public spirited IN every way tina
could win the respect of his fellow-citi-
zens of Burlington. But the long estab
lished rule of promoting Lieutenant
Governors to the first Office of The STATE
was broken in the conventions of 1885,
and 1888, to the evident satisfaction aud
relief of the rank and file of the party,
and.it will be hard for even so popular
a lnan as the present Leutenant-Gover.
nor to beat down tine present prejudice
against promotion" If Mr.. Woodbury.
is no minated for Governor the party
wouldappear to go back to the old way
if he is not nominated, the new way will
be fairly and permanently fixed. This
is about the condition Of things as they
effect Lieut.-Gov. Woodbury..
The only other name mentioned with
any frequency is that of Hon. Carroll S.
Page of Hyde Park. 1t is peculiar that
these two men live in places less than
DO miles apart. Mr.. Page is an interest
ing man personally and in his business
life, A visit 70 his leather establishment
in hyde Park would reveal an object
lesson in business methods that would
do every young m in this country
good. The foresight, system and thor
oughness illustrated at every hand are
marvellous. The business is unique.
Gr. Pages father bought and sold calf
skins in small way, but the develop
ment of the present extensive plant Is
the work of the son. l. IS simply an
elaborate asserting and classifying sys-
tenn, with the idea of having on hand in
large quantities calf skins in every grade
and weight, 80 carefully classified that
skins in the same class do not vary in
weight from each other over half
pound. There are-or there were, for il
Is possible that new grades have been
added recently-some 1856 varieties in
separate compartments in the cellar Of
the shop, and orders from tanneries in
any part of the country can be filled in
thu very shortest time and with the
most exact attention to grade, Over
800 buyers of calf skins are in all paris
of the country purchasing skins, which.
after they are properly cleaned and
classified, are sent, possibly, to the tan
neries in the very sections of the coun-
try in which they came. The receipts
of skins have grown from 5000 in a year
to over 80, 600 in month, and yearly
business of $3.50, 900 is done. OF course,
natural conditions have had much to do
with the growth % this business, for
cool air and pure water in the warm
months are absolutely essential. Yetthe
cool air and pure water have always
been, on these Vermont bills, but no ne |
but Mr.. Page has seen TO what a profit |
able use they could be put. The scier
tItic assortment of skins is not tHe only |
interesting feature of the ests blIshment
The system of bookkeeping, which, it |
can be en-, is necessarily complicated
is as close to perfection az can well bp
imagined. Mr.. Page has faculty for
putting into writing the most in ignIfi-
cant details and of making them tell
something.
So much for Mr.. Pages business. He
is an active politician, having been Sec
rotary Of the State COMMITTEE and NV
being its Chairman. From 1884 to 1883,
he was State Inspector of Finance, and
in this position ne distinguished himself
by keeping a watchful eye open for
banks that show a disposition to step
ont of the field of legal investme t
Mr.. Page is a Vermonter in every fibre
and everv instinct. He invests hi
money in the State, and has faith in the
future of it. 1t can readily be inferred
that the State will not suffer if either OF
these two men is nominated. There
will be no hard feelings aroused unless
some new element enter into the fight
The head o. the ticket will be satisfac-
tory to the party.
But there are a number of interesting
side-lights in the picture of State poll
tics. The offices of Secretary of State.
Treasurer and Auditor are being scru
tinized with longing, hopeful eyes by
politicians who believe they could d
the work Of these offices as we'll as the
and are sure they need the
pecuniary compensation quite as much.
There is great deal of talk on thes.
points, and there may be something ].
more than talk at the convention.
Truth to tell it is hard to SEE what
ground there is for this "kicking "
Secretary Porter, Treasurer Dubois and :
Auditor Powell are filling their offices
ls well as they were ever filed, appar.
entity, and there is no evidence that any
1f the men who are talked of as their
successors would be improvements. Bul =
he offices are few and the patriots are
many. This is the inspiration of the
iesire for ga change"
Within a few weeks a successor to !
Stewart in the 1st. district =
las been named by Republican papers !
n and out Of the district. Gov. Stewart =
las served four terms, and there seems
o be a desperation to regard that ~
rough. Judge Il. II Powers is the new .
light that flames down from the Green
ridge on both sides of the I,
tate. Acute politicians think they SET
III l.
D Judge Powers behalf. The Judge is y
low on the Supreme bench, and has y
een there since 1874. He IS an able a
nan and an excellent speaker, whose y
commanding presence and sonorous y
oice makes what he says impressive u
lad he turned bis face towards Wash. :,
1Rton when younger man, it is fair 10 u
oppose that he would have made him. !,
elf know to the country. Possible he q
9es bis mistake, and proposes to retrieve -
imself. Is he rolling over in his mind
he fact that Senator Morrill, will be so ~
ears old next spring, aud that at the VI
lost the STAFFORD Senator can not ex y
ect to be fit for public service for more y
ian five or six years? Does the Judge U
Dnsider, too. the fast that Senator Ell ,
funds is not the strong man that he ~ !!
'as +? Judge Powers lives at Morris II
,wn, which is close to the line that di-
ides Vermont into an eastern and west "
IN political division. II has been the e
1stom from time immemorial to ap- ~ ~
ortion political hopors equally as far ~
, practicable, giving one Senator to each ~
de, and allowing the Governorship to ~
ibrate from one side to the other. But u
case of Senator Morril's retirement, se
Judge Powers-in Congress and in 1.-THE ~
with all the grace neces 81 81
Try, go before the Legislature and ask 10
IT the election. 81 belong to neither ca
dep be could say ~ rest my claims 70
! my ability and fitness for the place ~ Id
hen, again, IL he should fail at this
me, when Senator Edmunds retires
10 Judge could, with equal grace, ask 10
at he be sent to Washington as the
ccessor of the Senior Senator. In n,
thef csses.his position would be the =
ute, AID ,his appeal on the score If =