The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-05-01
NEW ENGLAND's CANDIDATE
"" '"e Democratic side-Wm. u. Russell.
'"e "boy GovernOr" Of Massachusetts
Some ofthe springs Of His Remarkable
P"werand Incidents Illustrative Of His
shnracter-An Interesting Pen Picture.

Perhaps there is no man in Massa
chussetts who knows the former gov
ernor better than former State Senato
samuel Roads, who was for two years
his private secretary. | asked hin
not long ago to explain TO me how i
came that Mr.. Russell had such &
great hold upon the people of this
state. "Go back to the beginning OF
MS career said Mr.. Roads, and you
will easily understand why the Demo,
cratic convention last Tuesday rose as
one man and made the building rock
with their applause of Russell. lie
first entered politics AS an alderman OF
the city of Cambridge. As alderman
he showed the same qualities which
have always distinguished him ster-
ling Democracy, devotion to the inter
ests OF the people. "A command of ora
tory surprising in man of his years
and power of attracting men to him,
which like genius must be inherent and
is not to be cultivated. His manner
is simply charming Without being
ELUSIVE, it is frank and cordial; while
dignified, it is free and easy. No one
ever talked to him who did not go away
his friend.
while serving as alderman some
of his young friends took him up AS
the Democratic candidate for mayor.
There did not appear much chance of
electing him, but it seems to be Rus
sells fate to lead forlorn hopes. Per-
haps as much to his surprise AS that
of anyone else he was elected. He was
then only q years old. Shortly after
ward he was brought face to face with
the great crisis of his life. 1t was an
emergency which should make or mar
him, before which many an older and
more experienced but less courageous
man would have qualed. There was
a great strike of street car employees.
have forgotten the merits of the
controversy which is immaterial, but
| remember things began to assume a
very ugly look the strikers were de
! fiant: it looked for a time as If the
civil authorities were to be Knocked.
! The strikers were stubborn ard re
| fused to listen to reason the company
would not tolerate the thought of
compromise.
Russell, the boy mayor, the young
est mayor ever elected in Massachu
sets, and perhaps the youngest in
the country, determined to settle the
strike, and, what is more wonderful, |
he settled it in such manner that |
both sides were satisfied the
strikers as we'll as the company. This |
action not on y won him the confidence
of the people, but attracted to him the |
attention of the entire state, and |
showed that he had something besides
youth and eloquence and personal mag
netism at his command.
Gov Russell has always been noted
for his courage. for hitting straight out
from the shoulder without regard To
whom he hit Here is a sample of his
straight forward way of doing things,
and it explains why he so quickly
earned the respect of his fellow citizens
of Cambridge When he was elected
mayor he announced that while he
was a license man and believed in the
policy of licence he would strictly en-
force the liquor laws as he found it.
This he did to the satisfaction of the
most extreme prohibitionst, and yet
without arousing the luminosity of the
liquor men, who respected him for the {
stand he had taken in simply obeying
the law. 1t showed that he had great !
of character. aud that he {
would not sacrifice one iota of his self
respect to gain any personal advan {
tage. ~
1t followed almost as a matter of
course that a man who had rendered
such a great service to his community {
who had the respect of such antago- | !
listic elements as liquor dealers and |
orohibitionists, would be given another t
.erm in the city hall. He was re elect
ID. When he retired from the mayorship [
ne went on the stump, and his elo- d
,uence as well as his youthful appear +
ince soon made him a marked figure. a
When in 1888, Russell was nomi q
rated for governor, the Republicans a
made light Of the youngster. He ran b
hat year and was beaten, but not so o
padly beaten as he afterwards defeated
he men who sneered at him. The
ollowng year he was again the Dem t
cratic candidate, and again Re O
publican was elected. But he had made 9
UGH notable increase in his vote and n
lie had made such a gallant campaign h
hat it became very evident that under n
avorable conditions he could be elect e
d. Once more in 1890, he headed the Il
icket The campaign that he h
lade that year was a wonderful one. s
lie spoke night after night for months, &
e met every opponent the Republicans
tilted against him. he met the strongest
zen the Republicans could place in
he stump. men of national reputation
nd whose names were household words. b
russell was elected. The fact that Mr.. L
russell could remain on friendly terms b
18th his political opponents, men who t.
fere constantly maneuvering against u
is political peace, and who never a.
Kissed an opportunity to wreck his tt
respects, speaks volumes for his tact W
hrewdness and evenness of temper. a
While in business and political mat b
ers, Mr. Russell is cold, calculating IL
nd intensely self-contained, he p;
J a man of naturally warm impulses \
nd generous instincts. During his h
,nure of the state house he was con 81
antly doing gind and graceful things "
hich, if known, would have helped W
I'M IN a great many ways, but he stu NJ
iously avoided publicity. II remem r
er." Mr.. Roads SAID, that one of the q
evator men in the state house met W
it'll an accident ard broke his arm q
very morning for some days after that FL
hen the governor came into his of CT
Ger he brought with him a basket, NJ
hich during the course of the morn 81
e disappeared. He said nothing to in
e about the basket, but my curiosity tn
as aroused and found that the bas- alb
t contained nourishing food and to
her things for Tom, the elevator bo
an, and that every day in the quiet
and most unobtrusive manner the
vernon sent the basket TO the suf- cat
'er - me
% | remember another incident show Ay
2 his goodness of heart. On his sol
.ond Inauguration, after the cere WI
mics were over he went into the iy