The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-04-24

| IHE mugWump ueVOtee nears In Mr..
Cleveland's recent "sound money" let
ter to Chicago business men "a sum
mons to BATTLE" and warns "every
blooming candidate for the presidency"
to cease his twaddle about the use of
both silver and gold, about maintaining
the parity of the gold and silver dollar,
and say in plain United States if he is
in favor of the free coinage of silver at
the ratio of 16 to l. Very likely Mr..
Mckinley, Mr.. Reed and Mr.. Harrison,
Mr.. Morgan, Mr.. Hill and Mr.. Steven
son, will refuse to take orders from
these puckery priests of mugwumpery
and will continue to have and express
sound money views of their own. Mr..
Cleveland's Summons to battle" does
not explain what the plan Of battle is,
i or where it is to be fought. He is for
sound currency, but what sound cur
rency is he does not say, an omission
that detracts somewhat from the value
and Importance of the letter. People
generally are in favor of sound money;
and there is a very general belief that
both gold and silver can and should be
used as money, and that currency so
constituted is practicable and desirable
and would be sound. But the president
does not express any opinion on this
point or on any other in the financial
question. He deals in generalities
which do not even glitter with ray of
light or brilliancy. The letter is con-
stituted, the New York Sun wittily
says, according to the formula the pres
ident has used in former utterances on
civil service reform, tariff reform, and a
variety of other subjects. Those who
are curious about the matter, the Sun
says, can amuse themselves for a quar-
ter of an hour by experime nting upon
the letter to see how few words need to
be changed in the entire document in
order to make it apply to tariff reform
instead of sound money. The Sun is
right. So may trumpet call to tariff re-
form be transformed into bugle blast
for sound money.
elf Texas had a population of two
hundred million people and senate of
six members, it would be no argument
whatever against enlarging our senate.
The Texans may have their way; let us
have ours" This is what the Burling-
ton Ne,os has to say in reply to the con-
siderations the WATCHMAN presented
last week in respect of the constitution
of state senates in general and that of
Vermont in particular. The NeDS
further declares that the WATCHMAN's
argument in this matter of the size of
the senate is "that many larger states
have smaller senates than ours" Of
course this was not the WATCHMAN's
argument. These citations are simply
instances of the Ne,os' fippant way of
treating this subject. If our esteemed
contemporary wants to get the ear of
the intelligent, thinking public, enlist
its attention and win its confidence, it
will succeed best by maintaining at
least speaking acquaintance with rea-
son in what it publishes on the subject
in hand, or any other. The Ne,os
needs to get started right. In the first
place it needs to get right idea of the
functions of senate, which have much
to do in determining its size. A legis-
lature made up of two houses of repre-
sentatives, which would be the practical
operation of our contemporaries scheme
for senate of sixty-four members,
would be something of an anomaly.
The contemporary needs to under
stand, further, that the Vermont sem
ate has thirty members, not thirty-two,
as it continues to affirm. Finally, the
NeDs is wrong in firing into the senate.
1t cannot start splinter in the consti-
tuition of that body. The basis of con-
shutting the house of representatives is
the proper point of attack. That will
require all it's ammunition and its heavi-
est guns. Here are three essential
things in respect of which the Neoos
needs first to put itself right. Then,
with Davy Crockett's motto inscribed
upon its banner, it may enter on he
roic, but very likely bootless, contest;
and it would not be surprising if its
jousts should develop some striking
points of resemblance to the exploits
of Cervantes' immortal hero.